The Christmas Rocket by Anne Molloy. Illustrated by Artur Marokvia. First published as “The Four Legs of Gian-Carlo” in The Horn Book, 1957. Republished by Purple House Press, 2023.

Dino lives with his father and his grandfather and works with them in their pottery shop in the mountains of Italy. At the time of this story, it’s the day before Christmas Eve, and Dino and his father are going down the mountainside to sell the pottery that they have been making to the villagers below. They hope to sell all of their wares in order to make enough money to have some meat for their Christmas dinner, get some shoes for barefoot Dino, buy all four legs of the donkey Gian-Carlo who can carry their pottery down the mountain, and maybe even purchase a Christmas rocket for Dino to shoot off in celebration. However, as Grandfather says, “Rockets! They go up fast with a fizz and then what do you have left? A stick if you can find it. That is all.”

Of course, things do not go quite as well as Dino had hoped they would, but a Christmas miracle is awaiting the poor hardworking family. There’s a rule about writing Christmas stories (and Hallmark Christmas movies): there always has to be a Christmas miracle. The one in this book is satisfying and generous, a good ending to a hopeful Christmas story.

Author Anne Molloy wrote many books for children in her career. A biographical sketch of her life at SeacoastNH.com tells of her writing habits:

“Anne Molloy wrote her books in longhand, her feet propped up on a sofa, her paper supported by a checkerboard. She transcribed each manuscript on her husband’s Underwood typewriter. Wherever she traveled, notebook in hand, she recorded daily details and ideas, providing the rich content that distinguished all of her books and brought her plucky heroes and heroines to life.”

That’s the kind of book The Christmas Rocket is, the kind that you can imagine being written out with a pen and then typed on an Underwood. I think my grandchildren will enjoy adding this one to their Christmas repertoire.

This book can be borrowed by member families from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.

The Christmas Stove by Alta Halverson Seymour. Christmas Around the World Series. Republished by Purple House Press, 2021.

Two orphan children, Peter and Trudi, come to stay with their aunt Tante Maria Fingerhut in her poor little cottage in the Swiss mountains. But will the poverty-stricken Tante Maria be able to care for the children when she can barely feed herself? And how will they ever be able to celebrate Christmas?

“But though Tante was looking kindly at Trudy, she was just ready to shake her head when Peter caught her eye. Instead, she said, ‘Well, there are several weeks yet before Christmas. Who knows what may happen in that time? Come now, it is almost bedtime. We must find a comfortable place for you to sleep. I had moved my ed into the kitchen here for the winter so that one fire would do, but in the other room is the porcelain stove. Peter shall make a fire in that while Trudi helps me make up your beds.’

Trudi was so delighted with the stove that she could hardly leave it; and no wonder, for it was made of tiles, each one with its own picture. Some represented fairy tales, and there were castles and people and landscapes. The clear light from Tante Maria’s candle fell directly on the one Trudi knew she would like best of all.

‘Oh, look!’ she cried with delight. It’s the Christkindli in the manger, Peter. And the animals and His Mother. Oh, Tante, this is a real Christmas stove!'”

Peter and Trudi are young but hard working children, and they soon prove their worth to Tante Maria and to the various members of the small community in Tante Maria’s little village. It’s a lovely little book, only 94 pages long, with lots of traditional Swiss Christmas customs embedded in the story and a theme of learning to deal with difficult people and to love one’s enemies, especially at Christmas time.

I only have a few of Alta Halverson Seymour’s Christmas stories in my library, but reading this one makes me want to buy all of them. The ones I have are:

• Arne and the Christmas Star (Norway)
• A Grandma for Christmas (Norway)
• The Christmas Stove (Switzerland)

The ones I would like to have:

• The Christmas Camera (Sweden)
• The Christmas Compass (Netherlands)
• The Christmas Donkey (France)

These books can be borrowed by member families from Meriadoc Homeschool Library.

The Lion in the Box by Marguerite de Angeli. Republished by Purple House Press.

“Sunday, the children went to Sunday school. Mama kept Sooch with her at home. Ben went into the kindergarten class under Mrs. McAlister’s care. Already, he could sing with the other little ones. The girls were in Miss Von Tipple’s class. This Sunday, she told them more about Christmas, about the shepherds on the hills of Judea, the angel choir and the coming of the three kinds with their gifts for the Baby. There was a tree decorated with bright tinsel, a shiny star at the very top and candles. Lili wished their own tree would be as bright and beautiful.”

This slightly fictionalized but true story of a family of five children who live with their widowed, working mother is dedicated to Marguerite de Angeli’s friend, Lili Galen, who is one of the children in the story. Lili’s family is poor, but as the saying goes, rich in love. Mama works two jobs to support herself and her children. Christmas is coming, but Lili knows that the doll from the department store window and the real toy train that she wishes she could buy for little brother Ben are way beyond the family’s means. Nevertheless, the children work hard, take care of one another, and appreciate what they do have–food to eat, a small Christmas tree, and homemade decorations.

When the family receive a huge surprise Christmas box, speculation is that the box contains a lion! But what it really contains and who sent it are revelations of the abundance of Christmas grace that can and often does inhabit the world. I love knowing that this is a true story and that people did and still do, I believe, give of themselves and their resources to others less fortunate than themselves.