Season's Readings

By Elizabeth Foss
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 12/4/03)

For me, it’s not the lighting of the purple candle that truly signifies the start of the Advent season, it’s the filling of the book baskets in our home with all our lovely Christmas books. On the first Sunday of Advent, the books come out of their storage box and we revisit delightful memories of December snuggles beneath the tree and stories that have become intertwined with our own understanding of Christmas.

Our Christmas baby is finally old enough to appreciate his birthdate. He tells everyone he meets that he will be three at Christmas. He also appreciates his patron saint and I think that he believes that he is both St. Nicholas and the Pope! For his birthday party this year, we’ll read The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard, a story about a baker who learns a lesson in generosity when he bakes St. Nicholas cookies. We’ve ordered appropriate cookie cutters from the St. Nicholas Center www.stnicholascenter.org and Nicholas and his friends will bake and decorate and begin to understand the patron of children.

Speaking of Nicholas’ birthday, there is something very special about awaiting the imminent birth of child during Advent. It is a unique privilege and blessing. Waiting for Noel: An Advent Story by Ann Dixon captures that precious experience from the perspective of the child’s father. As Noel’s family lights each candle of the Advent wreath, her father tells the story of the year her family prepared for her birth. The tradition of the Advent wreath and experience of Advent as a season of waiting and preparation is joyfully depicted in both story and pictures.

The Christmas Bird by Sallie Ketcham is a lovely story about a robin who fans the flames of the fire keeping the infant Jesus warm. When she singes her breast in the effort, Our Lady blesses her sacrifice and the robin’s breast turns a beautiful red. An ancient Christmas legend retold with glorious pictures, the author wrote her version on the occasion of her child’s first Christmas. There is a gentle, maternal feel to the book.

Another story about sacrificial giving of oneself is Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect by Richard Schneider. Mothers especially will appreciate this book at this time of year. In a forest full of trees who strive to look perfect in order to be chosen by the Queen to be the royal Christmas tree, there is one small tree whose body shows signs of nurturing life in the woods. As it gives shelter and warmth to woodland animals, the tree branches bend and its body becomes broken. Well written and beautifully illustrated, the story reminds us all that "living for the sake of others makes us most beautiful in the eyes of God."

Little children will love Who Was Born This Special Day? by Eve Bunting. A lyrical Christmas poem set in a barnyard, this is the perfect bedtime story for toddlers and preschoolers. It is a sweet, simple story with rhythm and rhyme that will appeal to the youngest listeners and will even speak to the souls of weary bedtime readers.

For Christmas Eve, there are three new treasures to read. The first is Matt Tavares version of "‘Twas the Night Before Christmas." Illustrated in black and white pencil drawings, the book is not as bright as most Christmas books, but purists will appreciate the original text, spellings, and phrasings of the famous poem. Mary Engelbreit’s version, on the other hand, is a rollicking rendition of the poem that is eye candy to the illustrator’s fans. The Visit by Mark Kimball Moulton begins, "only once in forever, ‘tis rarer than rare, that one hears such a story as I’d like to share." It is the story told by Dinghy Sharp, great great granddaughter of Clement Moore, of the story behind the story of the classic poem. Nicely boxed in a slipcase, the book is a pretty gift.

Finally, after Christmas, another feast day treat awaits my children. I recently found a book I’ve been wanting to purchase since my son Stephen was born nearly five years ago. It is called Stephen’s Feast and is written Jean Richardson. Though out of print, I was able to find a like-new copy online. It is a retelling of the Christmas carol about good king Wenceslas on the Feast of Stephen. After all the hoopla over St. Nicholas, I know that my Stephen will be thrilled to have a book about "his" feast!

And at the very end, we have a new book to unwrap on the Feast of Epiphany. Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins is a Caldecott winner the retells the legend of a an old woman who was so preoccupied with the chores of the day that she won’t stop to help the three kings find the Christ child. When she recognizes that she has missed doing the very best thing in favor of the good thing, she decides to set out after the kings. Too much snow has fallen and she cannot find them, so she goes from village to village in search of the baby Jesus, leaving gifts for children as she travels. The children, of course, "find joy in the poor but precious gifts she leaves behind her in the silent night."

A cup of tea, a twinkling tree, and stories to share. Isn’t this a lovely season?

Foss is a freelance writer from Northern Virginia.

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