December

Smoore Favorite Christmas Books!

winter-lights Ok, just can’t resist doing a few more Christmas books. These are some unique ones I’m partial to.

Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts (by Anna Grossnickle Hines. Greenwillow, 2005). Stunning contemporary quilts illustrate this book, most of them in intense, vivid colors and bold patterns that really appeal to kids and adults alike. Like the title says, each poem and quilt celebrates winter light: sun sparkling on icicles, Christmas lights, aurora borealis, Menorah and Kwanzaa candles, flickering farolitos. Here’s one of the poems called It’s Time:

We’ve been working.

We’ve been waiting.

We have been

anticipating.

Make it dark,

as dark can be.

It’s time to light

our Christmas tree!

When I first looked at this book, I thought the illustrations were done by a graphic artist. Not until I reread the book did I realize that the artwork is quilting! The back of the book also has three pages where the author/artist explains how she creates her quilts. I bought this book for my mom (an amazing appliqué quilter). Not only does this book have fun poems (my favorite is Lights Out, a poem about reading under the covers with a flashlight), it helps readers appreciate quilting as an art form. Winter Lights is a great multicultural book with poems about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Lucia Day, Chinese New Year, Spanish Christmas traditions, as well as the winter season.

little tree (by e.e. cummings, ill. by Mary Claire Smith. Element Children’s Books, 1999). i’ve always adored the poet e.e. cummings. perhaps it’s his brash disregard of caps (something i’m partial to when emailing). perhaps it’s his unique way of using space and type, or his adjectives—perfect, beautiful, and so quite new. and little tree is typical, lovely e.e. cummings: “little

tree . . . i will kiss your cool bark/ and hug you safe and tight/ just as your mother would . . . put up your little arms . . . every finger shall have its ring/ and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy.” And so a boy and his sister decorate their Christmas tree. I can’t think of a lovelier way to introduce a child (or grownup) to one of the great American poets.

Silent Night, Holy Night: The Story of the Christmas Truce (narrated by Walter Kronkite, ill. by Robert T. Barrett. Shadow Mountain, 2003). This picture book developed from a story Walter Kronkite narrated at a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. The book tells the true story of the remarkable Christmas truce of December 1914. In the midst of the horrors of World War I, soldiers on either side of Flanders Field put down their arms, crossed enemy lines, and joined in a spirit of brotherhood as they buried their dead, exchanged small gifts, sang songs, and prayed together at Christmastime. “As the Christmas of 1914 drew to a close . . . a lone voice floated across the few yards of earth on which they had stood together.” “Silent night, holy night . . .” One by one the soldiers joined voices to sing this last Christmas carol. The picture book includes a CD with Kronkite’s narration and the Mormon Tabernacle choir singing Silent Night.

The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story (by Joanne Oppenheim, ill. by Fabian Negrin. Barefoot Books, 2003). Ever since I lived in the Southwest, I’ve loved books that celebrate Hispanic culture. The Miracle of the First Poinsettia, along with Tomie dePaola’s The Night of Las Posadas, are favorites. The Miracle of the First Poinsettia tells of la Noche Buena, Christmas Eve, when little Juanita dreams of buying gifts for her family and to place on the church altar for Baby Jesus. Impossible. Papá has lost his job, and there are no pesos for piñatas or fiestas. Juanita cries outside the old church as mariachis sing lullabies to Baby Jesus. But then a Christmas miracle! As Juanita carries a bouquet of straggly, green weeds into the church to place on the altar, they miraculously transform into beautiful, red flowers. “Qué hermosa! How beautiful,” say the people. “Feliz Navidad, niño chiquito, Jesusito,” whispers Juanita. And of course, these “flor de la Noche Buena” are the poinsettias we use today at Christmastime. Besides the bonus of Spanish vocabulary words, this folktale retelling glows with gorgeous illustrations.

B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (by Isabel Wilner, ill. by Elisa Kleven. Puffin Books, 1990). “C is for Crowds, growing larger each day/ With more people, more animals filling the way.” The artwork for this picture book is mixed-media collage and, as one review points out, has a “vibrant, folkloric look.” The artwork reminds me of pointillism with all its dots. This alphabet book adds nice variety to a Christmas book collection, and author Isabel Wilner even finds a Christmas word for the letter X!