To get myself to do some things on today's list, I thought I'd create a blog post to work on throughout the day, as a reward for, e.g., cleaning the bathroom. I'd rather read and write than almost anything else in the world, so let's see how this works.
The kids and I finished reading our most recent chapter book -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain -- on Sunday night, and I felt that we needed a break before we started our next book. Tom Sawyer was Rocket Boy's selection, right before he went back to St. Louis, and I've gotta say, maybe books published in 1876 aren't the best choice for 12-year-old boys in 2020 (though a few months ago we enjoyed Treasure Island, published in 1883). I had to keep stopping and explaining archaic phrases. It was a slog. I also did a certain amount of on-the-fly editing, because I'd forgotten that Huck Finn introduces Tom and Joe Harper to the joys of nicotine addiction, which I felt we didn't need.
Here are the books we chose. I'll post this now, and then add to it as we read more.
Kid A's choices (Dec. 21st):
The Christmas Tree That Grew by Phyllis Krasilovsky, illustrated by Kathy Wilburn (Little Golden Book, 1987).
This is the dumbest book, but the kids have always loved it. I kind of knew it was going to be one of their first choices. The Adam family live on the first floor of a three-story building. They're moving to "a new house in the country after Christmas," so the dad brings home a living tree which they will plant at the new house when they move. However, the tree starts growing at an alarming rate, and so the dad cuts a hole in the ceiling to let it grow through to the next floor, and ultimately the third floor as well. The people living on all three floors become best friends, celebrate Christmas together, and then somehow manage to extract the three-story tree and plant it at the new house.
Kudos to the author for including a Latino family, Mr. and Mrs Martinez and their baby on the third floor, but boos and hisses for making Mr. Martinez an unemployed carpenter in need of the white, upper middle class Adam family's help.
A Pussycat's Christmas by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Anne Mortimer (1949 text, 1994 illustrations).
This is a new edition of an old book, an odd but sweet story (like most of Margaret Wise Brown's books). She's kind of fey, I think that's the right word. The book is formatted like a poem; some of the lines rhyme, most don't.
It was Christmas. How could you tell?
Was the snow falling?
No.
The little cat Pussycat knew that Christmas was coming.
The beautiful illustrations by Anne Mortimer are similar to those in her own book, Tosca's Christmas. I think Kid A chose this because it's about a cat.
Red and Lulu by Matt Tavares (2017).
This is a new book for us -- I picked it up at Barnes & Noble when I was Christmas shopping last week. It was going to be one of my reading choices, but apparently it appealed to Kid A. The illustrations by the author are beautiful. It's the story of a cardinal pair who live in a tall Norway spruce in someone's yard. The tree is chosen to be the Rockefeller Center's Christmas tree, and one of the birds gets stuck in the tree while the other tries to follow along (and of course just this year a little owl was found stuck in the tree). The pair are eventually reunited, decide to settle in the New York area, and visit the new tree each year. A real charmer.
Kid B's choices (Dec. 22nd):
Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo, illustrated by Jane Manning (1982 text, 2001 illustrations).
This is a favorite of my boys, because it is about spiders. Tante lives in a little house with her dog and cat and bird (and a lot of spiders), and we watch as she prepares for Christmas, and then invites the children of the village and the animals to share Christmas with her. Left out are the spiders, who were removed during the cleaning process. Saint Nicholas lets them into Tante's house on Christmas Eve, and after they leave cobwebs all over the tree, he changes the webs to silver and gold.
A note at the end says that in some parts of Germany, a spider ornament is the first one put on the tree. I have looked for spider ornaments in stores, but I see now that I could buy one from Etsy -- there are many beautiful choices. Reading this reminded me to put my big spider pin on our tree.
Santa Claus: The Magical World of Father Christmas by Carlton Books (2006, 2009, 2014).
So here's a book I really don't like, but Kid B received it as a gift some years ago and is very fond of it. What I don't like about it is the way it blends truth and fiction. Each page discusses a different aspect of Santa Claus: his sleigh, the elves, etc. On the reindeer page, for example, we get factual information about antlers -- and a lot of made-up stuff about Santa's reindeer. I remember when Kid B brought it home from school -- was he in second grade? Third? He was right on the verge of not believing in Santa -- Kid A had already made the leap -- but this book made him believe a little longer. I read it aloud with discomfort, knowing that by next year at the latest I'd have to admit that almost everything I read wasn't true.
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg (1991).
This would have been my choice if Kid B hadn't snagged it first. We all love it, so I wasn't surprised he chose it. I think my sister Jenny gave me this -- or did I buy it after admiring her copy? A sequel to The Jolly Postman (also wonderful), in this book the postman rides his bike around fairyland delivering Christmas cards and gifts to the three Bears, the big bad Wolf, etc.
Once upon a Christmas EveThe best part from the kids' point of view is that each letter or gift is actually included in the book. We've somehow managed not to lose any of the pieces over the years, and Kid B carefully took each one out, looked at it, and put it back in.
Just after it had snowed,
The Jolly Postman (him again!)
Came down the jolly road;
And in the bag upon his back
An...interesting load.
Mom's choices (Dec. 23rd):
The Church Mice at Christmas by Graham Oakley (1980).
I'm almost certain this was a gift from my sister Jenny, who adored Christmas children's books (I used to give her a new one every year). This is part of a series about the church mice and their cat friend, Sampson, who in a previous book promised never to harm mice. In this book, the mice have various schemes for raising money to have a Christmas party (one involves selling Sampson), but finally receive what they need in a most unexpected way. The book is soooo funny, in a discreet British way, and a lot of the humor is hidden in the pictures. I love this book and look forward to reading it every year.
Thomas' Christmas Delivery illustrated by Tommy Stubbs (2004).
This choice elicited groans from the twins, but it wouldn't be Christmas for me without Thomas. For so many years when the twins were little, a new Thomas train set was the most important present under the tree -- later displaced by Legos, and this year, hmm, nothing in particular. Anyway, this book is seriously dumb. Thomas wants to be home in his shed to hang up his stocking, but first he has to make three important Christmas deliveries. At one point an older woman drops a jar of cranberry sauce all over herself and we always discuss how she managed to do that. Thomas then struggles mightily to make one last extra delivery. Finally he comes home to his shed, awakening on Christmas morning to find his stocking full of coal, which is of course what he wants.
This book always makes me cry. It's about a little girl who rides the train to the city with her grandfather on the day before Christmas to see The Nutcracker. "The city" is in California -- maybe Los Angeles? At one point they can see the ocean from the train, and someone surfing. When I was little we used to ride the train to San Francisco at Christmas each year to see the store windows.
What makes the book sad is that her mother died when the little girl was three and she barely remembers her. Over the course of their special day together, the grandfather tells the little girl things about her mom that she hadn't known before, and they talk about how they are making new memories together now.
Rocket Boy's choices (Dec. 24th):
I thought Kid B would choose this, because he's always liked anything to do with the Nutcracker story. He was overwhelmed with joy when I finally took him to a performance of the ballet a few years ago.
But no, he left it for Rocket Boy. This is a very nice retelling of the story, with attractive pictures by the author. It's funny -- I used to think the book was too long, hard to keep the twins' attention while I read it. It's not too long anymore! On Christmas Day, we watched the movie of The Nutcracker, which Rocket Boy always enjoys.
I've always liked this book, mostly because of the gorgeous illustrations. It's about a little kitty who doesn't understand what's happening when Christmas preparations disturb her nap. "She was not used to being bossed around." Sounds like a cat!
Her family puts her outside in the snow, where she encounters Santa Claus. He brings her back inside, and when she wakes up in the morning she has her own stocking with a toy mouse inside. Kid A expressed concern that her family never bothered to let her in again -- what if Santa hadn't found her? she might have frozen! That's not something that had ever occurred to me.
Rocket Boy chose this because, he said, he wasn't familiar with it and it looked interesting. The Tomten isn't actually a Christmas book, but it looks as though it is, because it takes place on a deep dark winter's night, when "the frost is cruel." Plus the Tomten wears a red stocking cap. I remember this book from my childhood. It's very mystical. Kid A's word was "repetitive," i.e., boring. I noticed that everyone got very quiet and drowsy as I was reading -- and yet they didn't fall asleep. It's really not boring, it's dreamy.
A few more choices (Dec. 25th):
Everyone is very tired tonight, after a long day of eating chocolate, candy canes, and cookies, so I chose the books by myself. It was a little hard, because there are still lots left in the pile, but I narrowed it down to two.
This is a new book for us this year, a present from my cousin Marina. It's a creation story about why we have seasons (in the winter, the sun spends more time with his friend Badger in the center of the earth). There's also a bit at the end that hints at the origins of the first Christmas tree and Santa Claus.
This is a very sweet story, but it didn't work for my boys, because the science is messed up. For example, in the story, the sun and the moon hang out in an underground river when they're not in the sky. "What about the people on the other side of the world?" said Kid A. "How do they get to see the sun if he's in an underground river?" The kids were also disturbed by a badger being down there too -- how could it survive? Also, in the story, the moon is not lonely because she hangs out with the stars, but the sun is lonely. "But the sun is a star!" my boys complained. And so on.
I think this would work better for younger kids, or less science-oriented kids. I liked it as a myth, but everyone else was confused.
This is a little kids' book, part of a series that was popular with our boys when they were under five. One of the main characters is a badger, so there were a lot of comments about "Oh, here's that badger again." The story is told in verse, like all the books in the series, and it's very good-natured. It is no more realistic than the previous badger book, but everyone seemed to find that funny.
Back at the cave
Gopher brews mint tea
and Mole pops corn
to string upon the tree.Raven and Wren
bake a fresh fruitcake.
The friends do their best
to keep Bear awake.
(How could a raven and a wren bake a fruitcake? etc., etc.) Eventually Santa comes, the "friends" give Bear a quilt (where did they get it? how could they make it?), and he snuggles down and goes back to sleep for the winter. Which I think I would like to do, too.
And one more (Dec. 26th):
It's Kid A's turn to choose our next chapter book, but he said I should read one more Christmas book and we could start the chapter book tomorrow.
I associate this book with my sister Jenny, too -- I think she gave it to me. It's a delightful retelling of the 12 Days of Christmas that makes it very clear what a bother it would have been to receive all those birds, cows, and humans. The local prince wants to marry a farmer's daughter (Emma), but she doesn't want to go live in his castle (she likes to go barefoot and climb trees). He keeps sending those birds, though, and by the end of the book, most of the castle's population has been transferred to her cottage. So she suggests that he move in with her and he agrees.
And I think that's it for this year. We missed a lot of good books, but they'll be waiting for us next year.
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