Children of Christmas: Stories for the Season

By Cynthia Rylant

Book Overview

"These five stellar stories . . . can be read aloud or silently, alone or in a group, at Christmas or in July, and by adults or children. . . . Ordinary places (and) . . . ordinary people . . .... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0531057062
• ISBN13: 9780531057063
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Scholastic, Incorporated
• Length: 38 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 0.5" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grade 3 and higher

Customer Reviews

Bittersweet stories for the Christmas season

In simple language, Rylant paints short, sweet, and sad portraits of people during the Christmas season. Children are prominently featured. From a young boy's understanding of his ailing grandfather to a young girl who simply walks through her city streets in search of peace on Christmas Eve, each tale tells a bittersweet side to the holidays. This has been a family favorite for years, and has led to many discussions with my children. Although they are now both young adults, I suspect we will continue to read these to each other this Christmas.

unusual Christmas stories

All these stories deal with sad, lonely, displaced people and how they find a spot of warmth and happiness on Christmas Eve. Several of them moved me to tears, and although my eight-year-old son claimed some were "boring," each one lead to a long discussion between us. A sick, homeless woman finds shelter in a library; a christmas tree farmer goes out and consoles the trees that haven't been chosen; a boy learns to comfort his bereaved grandfather....these different perspectives on a sometimes sugar-coated holiday remind us to count our blessings.