A
Christmas Storyby Brian Wildsmith was well-received in our house. My children are fond of other books he has illustrated. Wildsmith’s unique illustrating style is at its best in this
book. The story
is a simply told rendition of the nativity story, from the
perspective of Rebecca, a little girl whom Mary leaves to care for
a young donkey when the donkey’s mother carries the Blessed Mother
to Bethlehem.
The young donkey misses his mother and Rebecca ends up in
Bethlehem, too.
The paintings are anything but simple. They are richly textured with brilliant color and lovely
accents of gold. We
stopped and looked carefully every page. This book begged to be followed by an art project, where
gold paint was readily accessible.
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My favorite book
to give new mothers is
When It Snowed That Nightby Norma Farber.
My children really don’t sit still very well for this one. I read it more for me. It is so easy in the weeks preceding Christmas to get caught
up in the busy-ness of life. There is so much for parents to do. What we forget is that often what our children need most is
not that we do but that
we be. They need us to be available to them to talk or rock or read
or just sit in comfortable silence when the story is finished. This book remains in our Christmas box to remind me to slow
down and just be with my children. Reading aloud is a wonderful vehicle for doing that.
The book is composed of poems from many of the creatures who went
to greet the Christ child. At the end of the book, the queens come. They are late, having left their children with sitters, and
they don’t stay long because:
“Their thoughts are already straining
far—
Past manger and mother and guiding star
and child aglow as a morning sun—
toward home and children and chores
undone.”
They are distracted because they are going in too many directions. There are so many worthy causes—particularly during advent
and Christmastime.
I don’t want to be like the queens, giving little bits of myself to
lots of people and all of my heart and soul to no one. Instead, I want to serve my Lord with my whole heart—caring
tenderly for the children he has entrusted to me and guarding
carefully my time so that I don’t over-commit and neglect my home
and family.
We are given opportunities every day to bring into our children’s
lives those things which are true and beautiful when we read aloud
to them in our homes.
We have the opportunity to be like the last creature in Farber’s
book, who identifies with and emulates the Blessed mother:
I never got to
Bethlehem,
someone, I thought,
should (day and night)
be here, someone should
stay at home.
I think I was probably
right.
For I have sung my child
to dream
far, far away from where
there lies
a woman doing much the
same.
And neither of our
children cries.
Beautiful books are enduring and I can imagine sharing our
collection, which will be quite large, at Christmas with my
children’s children. I
also give books to each of my godchildren each year at the
beginning of advent. I
hope these books will find a special place in the hearts of the
children who are dear to me. I know they have found a place in mine.
from 2005:
Knowing that Katie, our youngest, was unlikely to stay with the task for the duration, we began with B is for Bethlehem.
Isabel Wilner tells the story of Christmas in lyrical couplets, which
are neither sticky nor snooty. The exuberant collage art in this nicely
sized board book makes it eye candy for all of us, young or old.
Katie still with us, we moved on to There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve.
The prose on each page is sparse, so the book moves quickly enough for
little ones, but watercolor illustrations captivate readers and beg us
to linger. There is reality here: Mary is very young, the earth is dry
and dusty, and the animals don’t speak. But there is beauty and
believability in the reality of the miracle.
Linda Schlafer’s A Gift for the Christ Child: A Christmas Folktale
is a lovely story of two South American boys who travel from their poor
home in the mountains to the glorious church in town to make a
Christmas offering on behalf of their family. Along the way, they are
called to minister to a woman in need. This book is also illustrated
with bright collages, but they are simple collages. And it’s the
simplicity of the illustrations that really captivates and truly
expresses the message of the story.
In The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story
by Gloria Houston, it’s Ruthie and her mother who must fulfill the
family’s Christmas obligation. They are supposed to furnish the perfect
Christmas tree for the town’s celebration. Ruthie’s father had chosen
the tree before he left to fight in the war. But he has not yet
returned home when it is time to harvest the tree for Christmas. This
is a touching story of great wealth amidst poverty. Barbara Clooney’s
illustrations are wondrous and this lovely tear-jerker is destined to
become a family favorite in our house.
We seem to be collecting quite a treasure trove of Saint Nicholas books, so I’m not sure how The Legend of Saint Nicholas
by Demi escaped us until now. A very complete account of the beloved
Patron of Children, this book’s gilded pictures are memorable and tease
the reader with almost icon-like presentations of modern Christmas
symbols. For instance, young Nicholas tosses gold coins into a
fur-trimmed red Christmas stocking. There is so much to talk about on
every page of this book and so many opportunities for every member of
the family to grow closer good St. Nick!
My friend Kathy discovered O Holy Night: Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem
at the Catholic Shop and called especially to tell me about it. The
first thing that struck me about this book, illustrated by the renowned
Faith Ringgold, is that the Holy Family is dark-skinned and the
supporting cast is multi-ethnic. The book begins with scripture and
then moves to illustrated lyrics of traditional carols. An accompanying
CD is a soulful recording of the Harlem Boys Choir singing Christmas
carols. Truly, this book and CD set is a sensory feast.
My favorite book this year is a simple one compared to the
others. The illustrations are drawn in colored pencil and reflect the
message: Christ is not complicated. He is not hard to find. He is
simple. He came to the shepherds—poor, uneducated, humble servants. He
made himself obvious and available to the lowly. The Shepherd’s Christmas Story
by Dandi Daley Mackall evokes the whispers of Old Testament prophecies
and underscores the tenderness of the Good Shepherd. Children will like
the storyline which is rich with the images of a shepherd’s life, but
the message is not a childish one. Children believe in God; they accept
Him readily as truth. It is adults who search for God—they seek him,
often without knowing what they are seeking. They look for knowledge
and nobility, for theological understanding, for outward signs of
secular greatness, both for themselves and for their Savior. But they
will find Him in infinite simplicity. He is Love. He is the baby, the
Good Shepherd, the Lamb of Sacrifice, and the risen Lord who commanded
Peter to feed his sheep. He made himself known to the uneducated,
unsophisticated, simple shepherd who walked solely by faith. This
Advent, as we share stories with our children, we pray for an increase
in faith, so that though we may not understand at all, we—like the
shepherds—will truly know Love.
