Tomorrow, it will start snowing for three days! 10 – 15 inches is expected, just in time for Christmas Day. Here in snowy Michigan, many will cozy up to books and hot chocolate…and maybe a toasty fire. Below you might find the perfect book to cozy up to…wherever you and your family and friends are for the holiday season. Wishing you all peace, comfort, and joy!
LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS
by JRR Tolkien, edited by Baillie Tolkien
So… Did everyone but me know about this book? I only learned about it last week. And I only had a chance to skim for the hand-drawn and painted pictures, which are AMAZING! I had no idea JRR Tolkien could draw like that or that he wrote letters from Father Christmas to his children each year. I am very thankful that my own father took Santa Claus very seriously (as well as the REAL Saint Nicolas), and I didn’t want to stop believing in Santa Claus visits for his sake! (or mine, for that matter… I really thought I heard Santa on the roof…) My parents made it so much fun, but it was still all about God giving us THE GIFT, which inspired Santa to give…
PS Technically, this is more of a book with pictures rather than a picture book… according to current publishing definitions! ; )
THE TALE OF THREE TREES
by Angela Elwell Hunt / illustrated by Tim Jonke
Angela Elwell Hunt has done an amazing job retelling this traditional folktale. I’d never heard the story before stumbling on this beautiful picture book. The earthy, old-world illustrations by Tim Jonke are a perfect match for Elwell’s style – an elegant simplicity that expresses the timelessness of this enduring tale. It’s a unique Christmas story in that it doesn’t stop with the Nativity, but follows the Christ Child from birth, death, to resurrection, through the perspective of three trees.
It reminded me of the famous JRR Tolkien quote: “The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.”
Which also reminds me that I still haven’t read Daniel Nayeri’s EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE. New Year’s resolution!
A VERY MERCY CHRISTMAS
by Kate DiCamillo / illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
One of the things I love about Kate DiCamillo’s writing is her very strong characters. And this picture book brings them all together in a sweet tale of hope. Stella Endicott is feeling joyful. She wants to go caroling, but no one seems to want to join her…except Mercy the pig and General Washington the cat. But when bright stars shine and a pig, a cat, a horse, an accordion, and a community come together, a miracle happens. And there’s toast, of course. All wonderfully “DiCamillo”.
THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY
by Susan Wojciechowski / illustrated by PJ Lynch
If you haven’t read this book, all I can say is “pish-posh”. That’s what the main character in this story would say! Love that phrase… Though I just read this book a few years ago, it has become a favorite. At 2,859 words, it’s a picture storybook (a format rarely published today…sigh) that unfolds as if the story was always meant to be. In fact, it seems the writing of it was a miracle. I once read Susan Wojciechowski’s account of writing it and WOW, I envy the experience! If I remember correctly, it was one or two drafts and her editor made little to no changes. The story will break your heart…in a good way. (It broke mine, at least.) And needless to say, the illustrations by P.J. Lynch are just as miraculous.
PS Yesterday, I learned the book was developed into a film. I’ll have to check that out…