Warning: The word magic (or some form of it) will occur several times in this blog!
Christmas, for the young and for the young-at-heart, is magical. I still wake up on Christmas morning certain I can smell the scent of the turkey my mother always cooked early comingling with the scent of the orange waiting for me in the toe of my stocking, and feel the excitement of my six-year-old self building in the cool still air around me. Christmas brings with it the promise that anything can happen and that our deepest desires can be fulfilled.
I love Christmas books, but I also love books that are not about the season but that evoke its magic, promise, and mystery. And it seems there are others out there like me. Once in a while, as a book seller, I would get the question: "Can you suggest a beautiful book for Christmas that isn't about Christmas but that captures its spirit?"
Right up my alley!
Kate DiCamillo, author of The Tale of Desperaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and many other awesome books, has a magical pen. Everything she writes fosters wide-eyed belief in miracles and in the ability for even the smallest and most ordinary of us to achieve them. I especially love The Magician's Elephant. Imagine an elephant crashing through a ceiling during a magic show and landing on someone's lap, and no two creatures being more surprised by it than the magician and the elephant, not to mention, of course, the person whose lap the elephant falls on. Then imagine that the elephant is the key to solving the mystery of a young boy's missing sister, and that the boy's belief in the elephant gives him the courage to begin a quest to find her. The recipe is perfect for a poignant tale of hope, magic, and salvation, and is a match for boys and girls from the ages of nine to twelve who love fairy tales, magic, and, of course, elephants.
Speaking of the fairy tale, there is no other genre that captures the spirit of Christmas the way it does. Any fairy tale will do really, but a favourite of mine is The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson, and it is a perfect match for the season. My mother, who made all my Christmas memories for me when I was a child, presented me with the complete version when I was twelve and performing in the ballet. It tells the tale of Kai, a young boy who falls in love with his neighbour, Gerda, but becomes stricken by the broken shards of a troll's evil mirror and is doomed to see everything in the world, including his beloved Gerda and the rooftop garden in which they play, as ugly. When Kai is kidnapped by the Snow Queen, Gerda sets out to rescue and redeem him. One of the most exquisite versions is the abridged picture book illustrated by Susan Jeffers, and it's perfect for children from the ages of five to seven.
And what about snow? What other element better embodies our Christmas hopes and desires than snow, or at least the promise of it. In the aptly titled picture book, Snow, by Uri Shulevitz, the magic of the simple substance is depicted through the joy of a young boy and his dog. The story unfolds in a dreary looking European town where our heroes notice one simple speck of white falling from the sky. Believing that there will be more, even though the adults in the story deny it's existence, they go out to play in it. When the town and the bookstore that is its centrepiece become transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland, the adults continue to ignore it and go about their mundane lives as if it weren't there. Only the boy and his dog revel in its beauty until the nursery rhyme characters on the bookstore's front come alive and join them in their frolicking. With a minimum of words and extraordinary illustrations, this gem is perfect for children from the ages of two to five.
I have recommended all of the above to parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles with great success, many of them returning to tell me how much the children in their lives enjoyed them. I hope they will do the same for someone you love.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all.
Right up my alley!
Kate DiCamillo, author of The Tale of Desperaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and many other awesome books, has a magical pen. Everything she writes fosters wide-eyed belief in miracles and in the ability for even the smallest and most ordinary of us to achieve them. I especially love The Magician's Elephant. Imagine an elephant crashing through a ceiling during a magic show and landing on someone's lap, and no two creatures being more surprised by it than the magician and the elephant, not to mention, of course, the person whose lap the elephant falls on. Then imagine that the elephant is the key to solving the mystery of a young boy's missing sister, and that the boy's belief in the elephant gives him the courage to begin a quest to find her. The recipe is perfect for a poignant tale of hope, magic, and salvation, and is a match for boys and girls from the ages of nine to twelve who love fairy tales, magic, and, of course, elephants.
Speaking of the fairy tale, there is no other genre that captures the spirit of Christmas the way it does. Any fairy tale will do really, but a favourite of mine is The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson, and it is a perfect match for the season. My mother, who made all my Christmas memories for me when I was a child, presented me with the complete version when I was twelve and performing in the ballet. It tells the tale of Kai, a young boy who falls in love with his neighbour, Gerda, but becomes stricken by the broken shards of a troll's evil mirror and is doomed to see everything in the world, including his beloved Gerda and the rooftop garden in which they play, as ugly. When Kai is kidnapped by the Snow Queen, Gerda sets out to rescue and redeem him. One of the most exquisite versions is the abridged picture book illustrated by Susan Jeffers, and it's perfect for children from the ages of five to seven.
And what about snow? What other element better embodies our Christmas hopes and desires than snow, or at least the promise of it. In the aptly titled picture book, Snow, by Uri Shulevitz, the magic of the simple substance is depicted through the joy of a young boy and his dog. The story unfolds in a dreary looking European town where our heroes notice one simple speck of white falling from the sky. Believing that there will be more, even though the adults in the story deny it's existence, they go out to play in it. When the town and the bookstore that is its centrepiece become transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland, the adults continue to ignore it and go about their mundane lives as if it weren't there. Only the boy and his dog revel in its beauty until the nursery rhyme characters on the bookstore's front come alive and join them in their frolicking. With a minimum of words and extraordinary illustrations, this gem is perfect for children from the ages of two to five.
I have recommended all of the above to parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles with great success, many of them returning to tell me how much the children in their lives enjoyed them. I hope they will do the same for someone you love.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all.
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