Customer Reviews

Christmas In The Country (Scholastic Bookshelf)

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Deep in the heart of most people who celebrate Christmas lurks the archetypal
holiday, the one depicted nostalgically in Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," and
Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales."
In the archetype, ritual is important, family and friends are important, snow is
good, and a tangerine in a stocking is enough to inspire oohs and ahs of delight.
"Christmas in the Country" is a worthy addition to the genre.
In it, our pony-tailed heroine lives in the country with Grandma and Grandpa in a
house that is "small and white. It had an old coal stove to keep us warm and a tiny little
kitchen for supper and a nice back porch for the dogs."
In the country, spring is for walks, summer for tomatoes, and fall for apples. In
winter, "The snow slows everything down. Birds are silent and serious. Dogs stay in their
warm houses. Children want cocoa and blankets. Everyone is ready for something really
special."
And - hooray - the something special has nothing to do with the mall or even
Wal-mart. Instead Grandpa will cut the tree in the forest, and the narrator and Grandma
will take the precious old ornaments from the closet that "smells like wool and mothballs."
Diane Goode's illustrations are just right - simple and energetic. Everyone's hair is
windblown at all times, as if country folk have better things to do than spray, mousse or
pin.

I just love the Appalachian culture and if you do, too, you will love ALL of Cynthia Rylant's books for children. I believe she grew up in West Virginia and these are stories from her youth....another place and time. All of her stories are filled with love and acceptance and the joy of belonging to a loving family. She has written MANY books and I would suggest you read them all. I have bought about 7 books so far, and they are so sweet, I can sit down and read them all by myself and totally enjoy them.....but my grandkids think they are GREAT!!! The artwork is very enjoyable and it just makes one yearn to go back to "the good ol' days"!!! This book will not disappoint!

Our son is 4, and we gave him this book on the first day of Advent in 2006. We have all loved it so much that we read it daily during December. It is a precious book about the anticipation and joys of Christmas seen through a little girl's eyes during a simpler, quieter time. I love how it talks about the special joys and memories of each season. It helped us all put away the ornaments and take down the tree with less sadness this year, understanding the comings and goings of Christmas and each season. Ms. Rylant's books are wonderful. We also have "The Relatives Came" and "When I Was Young in the Mountains" and they are treasures, too.

The children and I were happy with this wonderful story. It is about a little girl who lives with her grandparents and her memories of happy Christmas days. The illustrations are wonderful and realistic. A must have for your Christmas collection.

I love the artwork in this book. It is so tasteful and feels like Christmas. Rylant is a favorite in our family and has spun another wonderful small tale for children.

"Christmas in the Country" is a 9 inch by 11 1/4 inch picture book with simple text. The book contains 30 pages. Every other page is a full colored full page illustration with the other page often containing a small well written, but short paragraph.

Sometimes the simpler the better when it comes to portraying the meaning and joy of a Holiday like Christmas. Cynthia Rylant writes in a very simplistic style that many 2nd graders and above will be able to read. Don't let the simplistic sentences and very short paragraphs deter you from reading this book. When you are a good writer you don't need a lot of words, just effective words. The words in this book convey the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feel of Christmas celebrations in a simpler time but with more meaning than our Christmas celebrations of today. The book is a simple narration of the Christmas celebration that the author, Cynthia Rylant, experienced while living with her grandparents in a small white house in the country. Cynthia includes many details in her simplistic writing. The old coal stove that kept the family warm, the birds that are silent in the snowstorm, the snow that slows everything down, the dogs who stay in their warm houses, and the children who want cocoa and blankets, all paint a descriptive picture of the author's life with her grandparents at Christmas. I would do anything if I could celebrate Christmas with my grandparents again! The next best thing is to read and enjoy this book. One of the more nostalgic events in the story talks about Cynthia and her grandma unpacking the old ornaments from her closet which smelled like wool and mothballs. I, too, remember my grandparents unpacking the old ornaments from the closet that smelled like mothballs. While the illustrations are not my favorite style, they are full of detail and paint a beautiful visual account of celebrating Christmas in a more simple but meaningful way -- just being with family and the ones we love. I believe this book will be cherished by everyone who buys it and those who read it and share it with others -- both children and adults.

As I was browsing for a new Christmas book, I saw this one and just had to write a review. Our whole family loves this book! It really focuses on all the family traditions of Christmas, and the feelings of warmth they create. The writing is simple, yet elegant, and the illustrations are so calm and warm. It's really a lovely book, and good for preschoolers through elementary school.