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Cherished
Books for Christmas
By Holly E. Newton
Christmas
time is the perfect time to celebrate the feeling of family and
of cherished memories of Christmas’s present — and past. Here is
a list of books that evoke those special times to read aloud to
your special loved ones — younger and older.
Miracle
on 49th Street, by Mike Lupica, is a wonderful story about
a girl who seeks out a father whom she’s never known. Twelve-year-old
Molly has recently lost her mother to cancer and is living with
her mom’s best friend. Molly's mother left her a letter about the
true identity of her father, who turns out to be a professional
basketball player who doesn’t know of Molly’s existence.
But her
life is about to change when she decides to go to the Celtics’ practice
and meet the famous Josh Cameron. When she pops her head up from
behind the car hood, he’s surprised, but tells her “no autographs.”
She explains that she doesn’t want an autograph. She wants to tell
him something very important. But he tries to ignore her by getting
into his car. When she is able to convey the message that the girl
he really truly loved has just died and that Molly is his daughter,
he doesn’t believe her and drives off.
This all
takes place in the first 2 chapters. The story is well-written,
compelling, convincing and heartfelt. The miracle that takes place
happens on the last sentence and on Christmas day. Here is a book
that kids, including sports enthusiasts, reluctant readers and ages
9 through 13, will not stop reading until completed!
The rest
of the fiction and picture books are perfect for all ages!
I didn’t
realize the Truman Capote wrote a beautiful picture book autobiography
about Christmas when he was young. A Christmas Memory is
a story about his life as a young boy living with a distant aunt
in rural Alabama. The taste and flair of life back in the
early 1930’s is so vivid and touching in the author’s account that
you not only get an idea of life back in the “olden days,”
but his great love, joy and admiration for this simple lady.
When they
set out to make their annual fruitcake, you can almost smell the
sweet air by Capote’s wonderful descriptions. “Eggbeaters whirl,
spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens
the air, ginger spices it: melting, nose-tingling odors saturate
the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs
of chimney smoke.” The delightful illustrations, by Beth Peck,
and the enclosed CD inside, only enhance this peek into a time long
gone.
Click to
Buy
 Now,
how about reading some classics by two classic authors? Here are
two reissues, with illustrations, that make these two books a must
for this season. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens,
is the original text with illustrations, by the renowned P.J. Lynch,
that seem to lift the words off the page in picture form. And The
Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry, is another classic that all
families should be familiar with. Lisbeth Zwerger illustrates this
oversized picture book with a similar flair of displaying life around
the turn of the 20th century.
And while
we’re on the subject of Christmas in the past, Tomie DePaola’s Christmas
Remembered, will also present this wonderful celebration
over many of his own Christmases — beginning with his earliest memory
of Christmas when he was three, back in the 1930’s. His trademark
illustrations only add to this appealing and insightful look into
Christmas’s past.
If you’re
looking for a picture book that has a glowing story of love and
anticipation and acceptance, The Story of Holly & Ivy,
by Rumer Godden, and wonderfully illustrated by Barbara Cooney,
has all of the elements that would be perfect for a Christmas Eve
reading. Here is a reissue, first published with pictures back
in 1985, about a young orphan, a doll and a childless couple who
all come together on Christmas Eve.
The
First Christmas Stocking, by Elizabeth Winthrop, and beautifully
illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a picture book that’s bound
to become a classic. This is the story of a young girl who learns
to knit intricate patterns like her mother. Her hard work and long
hours would have paid off as she was to sell all in order to have
enough candles to light their home. But, instead, she gives all
of her special stockings away to a poor cold child.
And lastly,
the sacred setting of Christmas Eve as every household awaits the
morning sun to rise, the hush and glow of the evening is portrayed
on every glorious page of Thomas Kinkade’s paintings set to the
text of Silent Night.
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© 2006
Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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