Visiting his grandparents on their rural Michigan farm, thirteen-year-old James and his grandfather share a seasonal adventure that tests their family ties and renews their faith in traditional values. Reissue.
A Christmas Gift
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great story,
By Michael Dietrich (Lockney, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Christmas Gift (Kindle Edition)
Very easy to read and had a great ending very heart warming. The story is what Christmas is all about. It's not what we get but what we give.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Christmas masterpiece!,
By
This review is from: A Christmas Gift (Paperback)
A Christmas Gift was originally published in 1977 by Doubleday under a different title -- The Melodeon. This story was then made into a 1978 CBS TV-Movie under another title, A Christmas To Remember. The Melodeon was a NY Times bestseller and a Reader's Digest Condensed book as well. Finally realizing "Christmas" needed to be in his title, Glendon renamed The Melodeon, A Christmas Gift and St. Martin's Press reprinted this fine holiday tale in 1992 in paperback under this new title. Exactly the same story both times, only the novella's titles changed.The season is Christmas, the place a remote Michigan farm during the Great Depression, and the miracles are many and wondrous, from a city boy's initiation into the marvels of nature to a thrilling journey that leads to a strange encounter with an ancestor long dead. A Christmas Gift is a remembrance of the American past and of the love, sacrifice, and devotion that unite four generations of a remarkable family. One a story Christmas Eve, young James and his old grandfather decide to give the family's heirloom melodeon (a small pump organ) to their impoverished local church so that on Christmas morning, the congregation can sing to the accompaniment of inspiring music. But how are they to haul the heavy instrument through the most violent blizzard of the year? How? With fierce determination and the dubious help of four rambunctious girls -- and the intervention of the mysterious Christmas "cavalryman" who will transform their lives. I challenge any reader to make it through this story's last poignant, memorable chapter without shedding a tear. No one has yet. Reviews-- "A genuine Christmas story...Warm with human goodness and love." Christian Science Monitor "Builds the suspense to a lump-in-the-throat climax that will draw many a tear from tender-hearted readers. This kind of story is supposed to have become a victim of our materialistic age, but see if you can read it without feeling a surge of sentiment in that closing church scene. It's a charming tale written without a false note and perfectly attuned to the Christmas spirit." John Barkham Reviews "There is both charm and a nostalgic ability to recapture times past in Swarthout's enchanting fictionalized memoir of a city boy's days on a farm...An appealing Christmas book." Publisher's Weekly "A story spun of the simple and homely old human struggles and virtues that will startle the reader like an unexpected dawn...Here is a book which, while its theme and its attractive illustrations make it a suitable Christmas gift, will provide interesting reading for any time of the year." Stanton A. Coblentz, the Los Angeles Times "True lessons of giving and sharing are conveyed in the sensitive story about the donation of a family heirloom, a melodeon, achieved through a small miracle that reunites a family. Swarthout's moving story succeeds in its simplicity and its setting in an earlier time, full of hope." the Booklist, American Library Association "The Melodeon is a book that should be a Christmas classic in the tradition of Clement C. Moore. It's a beautiful story of love, and I could hardly read the last two chapters for pausing to mop my streaming eyes. Swarthout's story of small miracles is guaranteed to touch the heart of even the coldest Scrooge." Delores Ballard, Jackson, Tennessee Sun "All the virtues we associate with Christmas are present -- love, faith, ande miracles. It is a gentle tale that could bring tears to the eyes of a couple generations who will recall life in that long ago, far-away time." Chattanooga, Tennessee Times "What an ideal Christmas book this is! It's all about miracles...The rest of the charming, beautifully illustrated little book is another Christmas miracle, one the entire community shared." Margaret E. Wiggins, Ft. Wayne, Indiana News-Sentinel "The story is told concisely but with evident delight in the magic of words: 'It was a dashing winter day, colder than a dogcatcher's heart'...The Melodeon, illustrated with pleasing line drawings by Richard Cuffari, is a short but expertly crafted addition to Mr. Swarthout's output...It may well become one of those novels to which I return whenever I need cheering up." Malcolm Pain, Sheffield, England Morning Telegraph
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwarming story and easy read,
This review is from: A Christmas Gift (Kindle Edition)
This was an easy read and heartwarming story. I enjoyed reading it during my commute
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