Who was Father Christmas, and what gifts did he bring for the children?

Father Christmas is Santa Clause, and readers should look in chapter 10 for the sequence that contains him showing up and helping the Pevensie children. Even before being told it is Father Christmas, readers are likely to figure it out from the man's description.

He was a huge man. in a bright red robe (bright as hollyberries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard, that fell like a foamy waterfall over his chest.

He does bring gifts for the gathered group, but that is not the only reason he is important. The White Witch has made it always winter but never Christmas. It is an appalling thought for the characters in the story, and it is an appalling thought for most young readers. The fact that Father Christmas shows up at all means that the White Witch's power is weakening.

“I’ve come at last,” said he. “She has kept me out for a long time,but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic isweakening.”

Being a busy guy that hasn't been able to deliver his presents in a long time, Father Christmas wastes no time in handing out gifts to everybody present. He tells Mrs. Beaver that he will drop off her new sewing machine on his way out, and he tells Mr. Beaver that the dam will be mended and a new sluice-gate put in. Peter gets a sword and a shield, Susan gets a bow, arrows, and horn, and Lucy gets a dagger and vial of special medicine. His final gift is a tray with tea, milk, and sugar.

Father Christmas is the British version of what Americans call Santa Claus. He brought Peter a sword and shield to fight in the battle. He also brought Susan a weapon, a bow that "does not easily miss," but he specifically instructed her not to fight in the battle. Susan's other gift was a magic horn that could call up help if blown; in the second book in the series, Prince Caspian uses it to call up Susan herself, along with the other children! Lucy also gets a weapon, a dagger, but she also isn't supposed to fight—"battles are ugly when women fight," Father Christmas tells her. A more important gift is the magic cordial that can cure people who are on the point of death. Edmund does not receive any gifts because he is with the White Witch at the time when Father Christmas visits the Beavers and his siblings.