Tizz Plays Santa Claus by Elisa Bialk.

Next to Christmas itself, Tracy thought that Christmas Eve was the nicest day of the year. The holly wreath was on the door, the kitchen was full of delicious smells of good things cooking and baking, and in the living-room, her father was putting up the Christmas tree.

When they came back from the Candlelight Service at church in the afternoon, Tracy and Don helped trim it. It took a long time, but when it was finished and the lights were on, it was so beautiful that it took Tracy’s breath away.

Tracy got into her coat and boots and went out-of-doors to the corral. She led the pony to the bay window where the tree had been placed, so that Tizz too might enjoy the lovely sight. Tizz watched as if fascinated by the red and green and blue lights, then followed Tracy back to the corral to get her evening meal.

It was time for the Hills to eat, too. Mrs. Hill set out the food in buffet fashion and they all helped themselves, then carried their trays into the living-room. They ate while sitting around the tree, watching its beauty with wonder.

Elisa Bialk wrote an entire series of books about Tracy and Don Hill and their family and their pony named Tizz. The first book, simply called Tizz was published in 1955, and Tizz Plays Santa Claus is the third book in a fourteen book series. In this third book the children take care of Tizz, even when she runs away one day, and Tizz returns the children’s love and care by helping out with Don’s paper route and with the church Christmas play. It’s a very 1950’s “Leave It to Beaver”sort of story, and the flavor and setting and characters reminded me of Carolyn Haywood’s Betsy and Eddie books, except with the added interest of a horse of course.

I remember when half of my friends were obsessed with horses. They all wanted a horse of their own; they all wanted to ride horses. I wasn’t a member of the horse lovers crew, but I do think that the Tizz books would scratch an itch that some girls and boys still have today.

Combine a pony and Christmas and learning to care for others as Tracy and Don do in this story, and you have a winning story for the holidays. The children and Tizzy’s befriend an elderly neighbor and a girl their age who is recovering from polio. The reading level is in line with what are called “early chapter books’ nowadays. The story itself is old-fashioned and sweet.