Tradition is the lifeblood of all holiday celebrations. Children especially respond to the comfort and joy that customs bring. Reading together is one of the best traditions of all, holiday or otherwise, and this Christmas season parents can enjoy sharing reissued picture-book classics or finding new inspiration for their families' page-turning rituals.
Warm and Wise
Few book lovers, young or old, can resist a Margaret Wise Brown offering; the late author of Goodnight Moon was a genius at marrying simple words to evocative emotions. In Christmas in the Barn (HarperCollins, $15.99, ages 3-7), first published in 1952, Brown's phrasing combines soothing echoes of earlier works such as A Child's Goodnight Book and Big Red Barn with lines from favorite carols. The book conveys the Christmas story in short, sweet, poetic text. "What child is this who is born here/ Where the oxen stomp and peer,/ Away in a manger, no crib for his bed/ What child is this who lays down his sweet head?"
The artwork by Caldecott Honor winner Diane Goode is equally simple and satisfying; the ink-and-watercolor illustrations with their warm colors stand out clearly on a bright-white background. The illustrations are a little more modern and North American than one might expect. For example, the field and the red barn are not so "ancient," and Mary and Joseph seem to be wearing boots and overcoats. But young children will certainly relate to these tender images.
What's Good for the Goose . . .
Petunia's Christmas (Knopf, $15.99, ages 4-8), also originally published in 1952, will surely inspire new fans as well. Petunia, a goose, has fallen in love with a gander named Charles. This happens quickly, in a forthright manner readers will appreciate:" 'Good day, my name is Charles,' said the gander. 'You are pretty. Who are you?'
" 'I am Petunia,' said Petunia. 'You are handsome.'
" 'I am too fat,' sighed Charles. 'Being fattened for Christmas. Alas, I fear I'll be roasted and served with apple sauce. Aren't you being fattened too?'
" 'Pets aren't fattened,' said Petunia. 'I am a pet. Why don't you come with me and be a pet too. Mr. Pumpkin, my farmer, is a nice man.' "
And thus is born Petunia's plot to free Charles, which involves dressing up as a "fairy-tale monster" in a futile effort to scare his owners into giving him up and then trying to buy his freedom by selling Christmas wreaths. The late Roger Duvoisin matter-of-factly introduces such unfortunate realities as guns and money -- and just as briskly eliminates them. "Well, neighbor, what do you want to shoot on my farm with your big gun?" Mr. Pumpkin asks, before ensuring that the gun is never fired. And the money-strapped, gun-toting neighbor, who at first says he cannot afford to give Charles up, eventually refuses, along with his wife, to take any money at all. "They were good-hearted. . . . They would not take the bag of coins." The charcoal-and-ink illustrations -- most of which have, gasp, only three or four colors -- are as straightforward and charming as the text.
A Winter Wonderland of Memories
Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales (Candlewick, $17.99, all ages), a book about tradition that has become a tradition in itself, is reissued periodically with new illustrations, and in this latest incarnation the words and artwork seem especially well-matched. The prose poem was originally two pieces, one a radio broadcast and one an article; this combined version was released posthumously in 1954.
The storming cadences beg to be read aloud, which is good, because otherwise most children wouldn't appreciate them: "All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find." Thomas pulls out memories of Mrs. Prothero and the firemen, the Useful Presents and the more fun Useless Presents, the cigar-smoking uncles, the aunts who lace their drinks with spirits, and the snow, which is a character in itself: "Our snow was not only shaken from whitewash buckets down the sky, it came shawling out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely white-ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunderstorm of white, torn Christmas cards." While listening, children can look at the fabulous images by Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka (see illustration at the very top of this page), which fittingly are called "torn-paper" illustrations, rendered in ink and watercolor. They are mesmerizing in their own right, neatly evoking the swirl of memories. One only wishes the book, and its illustrations, were larger.
Family Feasts
Patricia Polacco -- author of many beloved books that borrow from her family's past, such as The Keeping Quilt and Thunder Cake -- shares a story involving her great-uncle in An Orange for Frankie (Philomel, $16.99, ages 5-up). Ten-year-old Frankie is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his father with the family's usual Christmas treat: an orange for each of the nine children. Times are tough, the weather is bad, the oranges almost don't get there, and then Frankie disobeys his father. "Even though he'd been told not to, he gently touched his orange. Then he picked it up. It smelled like sunshine. It was ripe and heavy with juice -- he couldn't wait to taste it that night." Of course Frankie loses the orange, but the way his family resolves the crisis is as perfect a holiday message as one could wish for. We are told that Frankie died soon after, a fact that lends the story, enhanced by Polacco's lovingly detailed pencil and watercolor illustrations, an extra poignancy. It's a bittersweet tale, if slightly wordy.
Speaking of relatives, the gathering of the clan is a tradition that some people could do without. But not Tomie dePaola. That dePaola, an industry unto himself, loves Christmas there is no doubt; of the 200 or so books he has written and/or illustrated, more than a dozen have been about Christmas. Guess Who's Coming to Santa's for Dinner? (Putnam, $16.99, 4-up) is a sly look at what Christmas might be like at the North Pole. (It was inspired by a joke card reading "Merry Christmas from Olga Claus . . . Santa's less popular sister.") After some initial hesitation, Santa and Mrs. Claus decide to invite the entire family, as well as Santa's friend Lars for Christmas dinner. But if one is expecting treacle, forget it; what follows is a more subversive take on what can happen when families get together, with children whining (to Santa no less!) about presents they didn't receive, tensions spilling over into snowball fights, the flamboyant relative hogging the spotlight and various guests offering to "help" or complaining about the food. The text is very basic:
" 'You know, Mrs. C,' Santa said to Mrs. Claus, 'I haven't seen my family in a while. Let's invite them all for Christmas dinner.'
" 'Oh, my,' Mrs. C. said. 'Are you sure?'
" 'Oh, yes,' Santa said. 'I'm sure.' "
The action is accompanied by dePaola's signature bright acrylic artwork and is presented cheerily, with the underlying message that no matter what, family is family, and it will all happen again next year. The family dinner is a tradition that won't die, and neither, one hopes, is the tradition of children snuggled up against the grownups in their lives, books spread across laps, ready to hear about the miracles, memories or mirth that the holidays bring. As Dylan Thomas writes, "Miss Prothero said the right thing, always." And she was probably speaking for many of us when she asked the firemen, standing in that dripping room on Christmas Eve, "Would you like anything to read?" •
Elizabeth Chang is a copy editor of The Washington Post Sunday Magazine and writes about books for KidsPost.
