An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola
From the author's note at the beginning: "At Chrismastime, in the New Hampshire town where I live, it is traditional for white electric candles to be put in house windows and in the windows of the Baptist Church. It is a beautiful sight. But the early residents of this New England town and other villages weren't always so festive. [some early settlers] tended to avoid any observance of the holiday whatsoever. In fact, one source tells of an Irishman being chased out of a New England town in 1755 because he was 'a Christmas Man.' All of this set me to thinking, 'What might have happened in the early 1800s if a family accustomed to celebrating Christmas moved into a New England town? Using historical fact and my research as a departure point, I began to imagine that it could have happened this way..."
I grew up with this story and it's just delightful.
Tomie dePaola is, of course, well known in picture book circles and this one fits right in with his best work. The illustrations are simple and evocative, reminiscent of an early 1800's cross stitch wall hanging.
And... it's funny. I always get a certain feeling reading it and thinking about it here I realized it's because there's a genuine sense of tension in the text -- an undercurrent of urgency building and building to real, tingling intensity. So yes, the simple storytelling belies (or rather proves) how quietly masterful the writing is.
I highly recommend it. It's out of print and ridiculously expensive right now so if you see it for a decent price anywhere be sure to snap it up!
For toddlers and up
Reviewed for The Literary Christmas Reading Challenge hosted by In the Bookcase.
I grew up on this as well, I believe we owned it, I'm going to have to see where it went. Is it really out of print?! How could they let a gem like this go out of print!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for the LM Montgomery Christmas with Anne book and it was as well!
Here's to hoping this is just a covid thing and these will be available easier in the future!
Oh, WOW! What a beautiful book. I'm extremely surprised that I've never heard of it before, as it would fit right in with similar books my family had growing up. I will definitely keep an eye out for it -- if I'm ever able to make it back to garage sales and thrift shops, where you can find literary treasures like this (for cheap!). Thanks for sharing pictures of it too, which make the book all the more enticing!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this one, and now i'm going to have to see if the library has it! Even though my kids are all reading junior and middle-grade fiction now, they still enjoy a good picture book now and then... as do I ;-)
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