Review by Jan Keeling
Children's books for this holiday season are filled with light of one kind or another. These eight holiday books for children use text and illustrations to serve several of literature's time-honored purposes: to warn against extinguishing light, and to help readers see what is important about themselves and about things that are larger than themselves.
"Silent Night" by Will Moses is a charming depiction of Christmas in an old-time Vermont village. Yes, the artist/author is a descendent of beloved folk painter Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses; in fact, he is her great-grandson and has carried on her folk art tradition by developing his own folk style and becoming internationally famous in his own right. In "Silent Night," the first stanza of the hymn is spread across the tops of the pages, with the full text of the original story by Moses beneath. Moses' tale revolves around an earthly human event that echoes the ancient hymn: the birth of a Christmas baby. Young readers will delight most of all in the illustrations, whose bright colors and details exemplify the best of folk art -- there is so much to look at in these paintings, so much to see!
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Mary Pope Osborne's "Rocking Horse Christmas" begins when a boy discovers a new Christmas rocking horse under the tree on Christmas Day. The boy climbs onto his shiny toy and the two set off on a series of exciting adventures. Ned Bittinger's classic oil paintings shimmer and glow as they show how a child's imagination can blend wishes and reality. The tale turns poignant when the boy outgrows his horse and the toy is relegated to the attic. Fortunately, a means of rebirth is offered at the end just before the horse's spirit fades.
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In "By the Hanukkah Light", Sheldon Oberman uses bright, rich colors and poetic language to tell three stories within the framework of one family's Hanukkah ceremony. Rachel's grandpa tells the story his grandpa told him of the first Hanukkah, a celebration of rescue and restoration. Then Grandpa tells the story of his own Hanukkah experience in World War II days. During this dreadful time, his family celebrated Hanukkah in all the traditional ways, except they dared not show the light of the Hannukiah in their window. The freedom to display the light is one of the things the brave soldiers were fighting for. The third story describes how Rachel's family celebrates Hanukkah today, carrying on the ancient traditions. Because they are no longer afraid, they can share their light with the world by placing the Hanukkiah in the window.
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Lori Walberg's "The Legend of the Candy Cane" tells how the traditional red-striped, cane-shaped candy came to be. This curious candy has its origins in the white sugar sticks that mothers used over 350 years ago to pacify their babies. Though we may not ever know the full history of the candy cane, the wonderful story in this book presents a candy maker, new in the village, and a little girl who helps him share the candy sticks and their Christian symbolism with all the residents.
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Juwanda G. Ford's colorful alphabet book, "K Is for Kwanzaa", is an informative introduction to a joyous African American holiday. The Kwanzaa-related items and concepts (one for each letter of the word "Kwanzaa") are illustrated with deep, simple colors. Dr. Maulana Karenga, the African American teacher who started Kwanzaa in 1966, knew the importance of celebration and of remembering. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa observes one of the seven Kwanzaa principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
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"Lassie, a Christmas Story" by Earl Hamner and Don Sipes will satisfy readers who expect danger, difficult odds, and a dramatic rescue from the noble collie. Lassie helps Timmy pick out a Christmas tree, holds down the ribbon while Timmy ties the bow on a present for his mother, and, most important, uses her animal instincts to respond when she knows someone is really in trouble and needs her help. Timmy shares the Nativity story with Lassie, and after their adventure, the tree glows with many bright lights in memory of that first Christmas night "when the world was lit with glory." A longer-than-usual picture book, "Lassie: A Christmas Story" will appeal to kids who watch the new episodes of the "Lassie" TV show.
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Eve Bunting's "December" is a work of art in both story and illustration. Caldecott winner David Diaz designed the book and the font used for the text, photographed the unusual backgrounds, and created the mixed-media illustrations. The story is of a homeless boy, Simon, and his mother who live in a house they have made from cardboard boxes. They celebrate Christmas Eve after a fashion, though they can't light their only candle because it might start a fire. On the wall of their cardboard "home" hangs a picture taken from a calendar: December, the Christmas angel, whom Simon longs to hear sing. Even in these grim circumstances there is hope, generosity of spirit and a special Christmas Eve visitor who changes everything.
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The musical "Babes in Toyland" opened on Broadway in 1903, and has since been reissued as two movies (1936 and 1961) and several TV productions. The newest children's book from the original operetta is "Babes in Toyland" illustrated by Erin McGonigle Brammer. The story features the children of Mother Goose Land encountering a villain in black, monstrous spiders, and marching toy soldiers as they flee to the magical kingdon of the Master Toymaker. You will want children to be familiar with this classic story.
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Jan Keeling is an editor and agent in Nashville.
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