December, of course, is an extremely busy month for Santa Claus, but what does he do for the rest of the year?

Hellertown author Larry Deibert has tried to answer that question in his first children’s book, “Santa’s Day Jobs,” which has just been released on Amazon.com.

The book is quite a departure for Deibert, whose previous books have been on topics as wide-ranging as vampires, time travel and Vietnam. The idea came to him a few months ago, he said, when he was delivering mail (his day job) at Lehigh Valley Hospital, and a little girl pointed at him and cried, “Santa!”

That got him thinking about Santa and wondering what Santa does after the holidays. As he thought about it, he says in the book’s introduction, “I thought this book could be a possibility because, with today’s technology, Santa certainly has a lot of free time. He can communicate with his elves using email, text messaging and FaceTime.” And because toy-making has become so automated, his chief elf could oversee many of the facets of the job.

The resulting book is divided into segments describing a variety of jobs Santa might hold, from lifeguard to dog groomer to hairdresser, and what those jobs entail.

Of course, his most important job, as Santa Claus, is also described.

Since it is a children’s book, Deibert realized it should have illustrations. His own hairdresser connected him with Ashley Reigle, a young artist from Center Valley. Reigle says she studied to be a cosmetologist and enjoys art mostly as a hobby.

Reigle’s whimsical illustrations show how Santa is dressed for the variety of occupations, but, Deibert notes, he is always wearing his hat. He even has it on under his astronaut’s helmet. And when he is working as a baseball catcher, his hat stays on his head even when he throws his mask off to catch a foul ball.

Deibert and Reigle together came up with the list of 12 jobs, but Deibert recruited outside help from children for the job descriptions. He posted a request on his Facebook page and also asked friends, including one who is an elementary school teacher, for their help.

Among the job descriptions the children came up with are:

Lifeguard: “They can help people learn how to swim and do cool things in the water.”

School bus driver: “They tell you to sit down when you ride a bus.”

Chef: “Someone who cooks stuff for you if you don’t have time to cook it yourself.”

Hairdresser: “A hairdresser does your hair in cool ways you don’t know how to do.”

Astronaut: “An astronaut flies to outer space to see if the planets are breaking or not breaking. Also to see how cold and hot they are.”

Dog groomer: “Wash and cut dogs’ hair and put pretty bandannas or bows on them.”

At the end of the book, Deibert tells his readers he and Reigle are already contemplating another children’s book and may need their help again.

An added feature of Deibert’s book is a do-it-yourself coloring section. Although Reigle has done all the illustrations in color, they are repeated in the back of the book without color, so kids can try their hand at coloring them.

Deibert’s book will be available on Amazon.com, or you can receive a signed copy by contacting Deibert at P.O. Box 45, Hellertown, 18055.

He will be signing copies of the book 1-3 p.m. today, Dec. 1, at Moravian Book Shop, Bethlehem, and 6-8 p.m. at the Allentown branch of the book shop.