The Twelve Books of Christmas, January 2

I thought for a long time before deciding on the book for today.  It is not a picture book, but a compilation of short stories for children, called "A Newbery Christmas."

 The stories in this book are by Newbery award winning authors like Madeline L'Engle, Lois Lenski, Katherine Paterson (my favorite), Eleanor Estes, and Rachel field.  Some are excerpts from longer books, such as Eleanor Estes book, "The Hundred Dresses", a story about a little Polish girl who is poor and made fun of and claims she has one hundred dresses in her closet.  It is a story not entirely about Christmas -- but it is a story about gifts in all of their varieties.

I first encountered Elizabeth Yates' lovely story, "Once in the Year" in this book, and then I found the original version.  Katherine Paterson has a story from one of her two (now out of print) books of Christmas stories.  Ms. Paterson originally wrote these stories for her husband, a Presbyterian minister, to read on Christmas eve.  The story in this collection is "Woodrow Kennington Works Practically a Miracle", about a boy having trouble with his little sister on Christmas Eve, and how exasperated he gets, and how mean he is to her, and how he breaks the TV set, and fixes it again and, well... I guess you just have to read it so see how Woodrow practically works a miracle on Christmas eve.

A Newbery Christmas is out of print, and it's a pity.  But the book is still available if you have a mind to look for it.  There are plenty of stories, and authors, to discover.  It is a book to read and savor over many days of Christmas, and many Christmases.

Some of the stories are overtly religious, (Paterson's) and some evoke memories of Santa and family celebrations.  Some bring us back to Christmases past.

P.S. this book does not have illustrations.