Christmas

Dec 25 2011

The Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, Jon J Muth (illustrator)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I thought I might take a moment today to share a book I bought this year.  I am a big fan of Jon J. Muth. We have a number of his books and my children particularly enjoy reading his zen stories featuring Stillwater the panda (Zen Shorts, Zen Ties & Zen Ghosts).

So when I stumbled upon The Christmas Magic while out shopping I knew I had to get it. And rather than wrap it as a gift I brought it home and we read it for bedtime stories in preparation for Christmas.

As Booklists notes, this is not your classic Santa:

Children get a different Santa than they are used to in a book that focuses on the quiet preparation that leads to Christmas. Far, far north, this Santa Claus is not a jolly old elf, but rather a thin, subdued fellow in a blue suit. There’s no Mrs. Claus—well, Santa darns his own socks—nor are there busy elves. Just reindeer called home from a snowy wilderness who are fed parsnips and berries before their long journey. Alone, Santa readies his sleigh and visits a room with toys, where he picks one for each boy and girl in his book. Finally the night “thrums with magic,” and Santa embarks on his vast journey. It’s the air of magic and mystery, which prevails in both text and art, that will capture children’s interest and allow them to accept a Santa who is not the norm. This is primarily true in the majestic outdoor spreads that are all stars and snow and sing of unknown possibilities. But even the cozy indoor scenes have a slightly unsettling feel that will intrigue readers. A new take on an iconic figure.

The story is simple but whimsical and mysterious. It hints at the magic and beauty of the north.  Muth’s wondrous watercolors bring the story to life. Santa is kind and full of joy even without the extra weight.

The snow and stars are so enchanting that you wish you could climb into the story and experience the crisp winter nights where each snowflake seems to sparkle and the stars are bright and clear.  The deer are soft and friendly, like beloved companions who cheirsh the seasons as much as Santa, even as they sport wide grins in a couple of the illustrations.

If you are looking for a Christmas picture book with a different take on Santa this is a great choice.  A wonderful story with beautiful art sure to be enjoyed for many, many seasons.

 

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Dec 22 2011

Dakota Christmas (Kindle Single) by Joseph Bottum

As noted yesterday, Dakota Christmas, the Kindle Single by Joseph Bottum, was something of a surprise hit.  As a magazine writer and editor Bottum had written a number of Christmas pieces over the years and as a result was contacted by Amazon about the possibility of mining this material as part of the Kindle Single program.   The 7,500-word piece met with unexpected success:

“Dakota Christmas” has struck a chord. One recent week it was No. 1 for sales in Amazon’s Kindle Singles and in nonfiction, and No. 1 for all sales in all books on Amazon in the categories of Christmas, memoirs and religion.

As I write it is the #2 Kindle Single just below Dean Koontz and about Stephen King.

So what is Dakota Christmas?

A memoir of childhood Christmases on the South Dakota plains. By turns sweet and comic, sentimental and serious, Joseph Bottum’s “Dakota Christmas” is an instant Christmas classic. In this beautifully written account of the mad joys and wild emotions of Christmas for children, Bottum captures the universal spirit of the season even while he recounts his memories with a sharp particularity that brings them alive for readers.

It is rather hard to describe actually.  It is a memoir and an exploration of a holiday with all its cultural and emotional nostalgia and detritus; an exploration of memory and childhood and an essay on the Christmas essay. I think the key lies in the “universality through particularity” noted above.  It is in describing and thinking about his own experiences with Christmas that Bottum in turn flushes out our own experiences, memories, emotions and conceptions.

The writing is literary, the author has a 10,00 book library he is finally able to shelve in one place now living in South Dakota, and richly detailed.  His detailing his unique experiences and relationships almost automatically causes the reader to explore his own past.  He recalls the toys, books, food and music of the season – and the events, places and people; he recalls the details but struggles to feel the emotions in quite the same way.  A Bottum notes, memory is in many ways our least reliable tool but really our only tool for this task.

Throughout is the thread of place and the plains of the Dakotas are a character themselves.  And it is in this place that Bottum is reminded of the underlying meaning and truth of the season.

Readers with a similar background will find the essays nostalgic and full of cultural touch-points. Those with a different background will enjoy an evocative tour through a different time and place.  Anyone with a fondness for Christmas will enjoy an interesting exploration of the holiday through a variety of perspectives. I am not sure what makes an “instant Christmas classic” but think “by turns sweet and comic, sentimental and serious” is a great description of this enjoyable collection of essays.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Dec 21 2011

Joseph Bottum on a Dakota Christmas

This week’s edition of Coffee & Markets is appropriately focused on Christmas. Pejman and I are joined by Joseph Bottum, author of the surprise Kindle Single hit Dakota Christmas, to discuss his upbringing on the plains of the Dakotas, the difference between rural and urban perspectives, literature in the age of the internet, the impact of technology on reading and learning, and more.

Dakota Christmas is a bit of a surprise hit for the author.  The Washington Times:

As far as Christmas miracles go, it ranks somewhere between virgin birth and the Sisyphean persistence of fruitcake.

A writer loses a plum magazine-editing job in New York City, decamping to his native South Dakota. Out of the blue, a major online publisher asks him to adapt and expand an 11-year-old piece about his holiday memories. The resulting essay, warm and wise, becomes a surprise electronic best-seller – topping works by authors such as Nicholas Sparks and Tom Clancy – and a small beacon of hope for a beleaguered profession struggling to survive in the digital age.

“It’s been sweet,” said Joseph Bottum, who has recently lived that scenario. “What else could one want for a Christmas piece?”

A freelance writer and former editor at the conservative religious journal First Things, Mr. Bottum is the author of “Dakota Christmas,” a top seller for Amazon’s Kindle, an electronic reader and e-bookstore.

By turns serious and comic, the piece offers a richly detailed, loosely chronological account of Mr. Bottum’s bookish boyhood on the Dakota plains, reflecting on both the spiritual and secular meanings of the holiday season in a sentimental, melancholic manner reminiscent of the animated television classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

I will post my review shortly.

Listen Here.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Interviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Dec 9 2011

An Elk Dropped in by Andreas Steinhöfel

This is why libraries and bookstores have special sections, tables, endcaps, etc. I was running into the library to pick up a book I had reserved when An Elk Dropped in caught my eye.  A quick look and I was intrigued. Here is the publisher’s blurb:

An unexpected visitor makes Christmas special for a little boy. While performing a trial run for Santa Claus – the reindeer are far too dainty and aloof for such risky business – Mr. Moose goes off course and crashes through the roof of Billy Wagner’s house, injuring his leg. There’s nothing to do but to stay there until he recovers, regaling the family with stories until Father Christmas comes to get him. Billy’s fascination with Mr. Moose lifts the little boy’s spirits as he faces a new year of hope. This perennial best-seller in Germany will bring Christmas cheer to all readers.

A translated holiday story with charming illustrations? Yes, I will pick that up for the family. I read it last night and found it to be a quirky and enjoyable story.

I like the way the story blends in the miraculous nature of a talking moose who helps train Santa’s sleigh with the more mundane aspects of life: Billy’s know-it-all sister, his newly divorced mom’s feminist friend and her scarves, the helpful but nosey neighbor, etc.  The illustrations match this blend – sophisticated watercolors that have a cartoon quality. Billy is a likable character and his connection with Mr. Moose is charming; even if the bring back the divorced parents theme is somewhat over-done in the end. Even Know-it-all Kiki is endearing with her love of science and knowledge even as applied to something like Father Christmas and talking moose.

Little things make the story witty and realistic. The way the family feed grandma’s coconut biscuits to the ducks because she always burns them. How Billy fears his dark secret – breaking the neighbors eggs – will come out and ruin his Christmas.  How Mrs. Wagner’s motherly instincts kick in as they take care of Mr. Moose; and how much the family appreciates having a “pet” no matter how temporary and unique. Santa Clause as a rather brusque and demanding figure was a nice touch.

So if you are looking for something different for bedtime reading during the holidays check this one out.  A quirky story perfect as a short story for adults or to be read out loud with children.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Dec 2 2011

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (Lisbeth Zwerger, illustrator)

Our Lisbeth Zwerger fan appreciation tour continues today with a book perfect for the Christmas season: The Gift of the Magi. For those of you not familar with the O. Henry story here is a teaser:

One dollar and eight-seven cents is all the money Della has in the world to buy her beloved husband a Christmas present. She has nothing to sell except her only treasure — her long, beautiful brown hair. Set in New York at the turn of the twentieth century, this classic piece of American literature tells the story of a young couple and the sacrifices each must make to buy the other a gift. Beautiful, delicate watercolors by award-winning illustrator Lisbeth Zwerger add new poignancy and charm to this simple tale about the rewards of unselfish love.

If for some odd reason you haven’t read this classic tale, you should. It really is poignant and charming.  A young couple struggling to make ends meat determined to give Christmas gifts worthy of the love they share end up giving “useless” gifts but are in O. Henry’s words “the wisest of all who give and receive gifts.”

And this edition is perfect.  The beauty and simplicity allows the story to shine.  But like so many of Zwerger’s work, I think it is much more a gorgeous coffee table book for adults than an example of children’s literature.

The legal pad size book (8 1/2 by 14)  has lots of white space, a stylized font and, of course, Zwerger’s illustrations.  And those detailed, yet delicate, illustrations capture the emotions of the characters as the story proceeds. Many reviews focused on the font and white space as making it hard to read. And I suppose this is true if you are attempting to read it out loud in a classroom setting or at home. But I really like the overall effect.

From Della throwing herself on the couch for a nice long cry, nervously looking in the mirror after her sacrifice, and feeling her now short hair as she prepares supper to her husband Jim coming up the stairs, the awkward exchange of gifts, and the couple sitting across the table talking, the illustrations provide beautiful snapshots as the story unfolds.

It is a timeless story, and one we would do well to remember this – and every – holiday season, and I don’t think there is a better way to enjoy it than in this wonderful package.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

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