Customer Reviews

Christmas on Jane Street: A True Story

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Disguised as a book about Christmas, this is really a touching story about fathers and their daughters; and the sometimes clumsy struggle that occurs as they BOTH mature. A comic and heartfelt story which is certain to touch every dad and his daughter, I will buy many copies of Christmas On Jane Street for the upcoming holiday season.

I first heard about this book when I read that the Romp family was riding from Vermont to Alaska on a bicycle built for four and pulling a trailer containing the youngest family member. I ventured onto their WEB site and noticed that the father of this family had written a book about selling Christmas trees in New York each year. This interested me and I obtained the book. The first evening I had the book, I started reading it and couldn't quit reading until I finished the book. This is a wonderful little book with a BIG story. I was inspired by the tale and it brought tears to my eyes during one part. I'm going to buy multiple copies and give them to all my friends for Christmas!!

My husband and I personally know the Romp's and just want to give them the highest of accolades for this excellent book Billy has written. It really makes you smile and get warm and fuzzy inside reading about this Vermont family that moves to the city each year to sell Christmas trees and the friendships and bonds that have developed over the years. Christmas on Jane Street is the story about the love between a father and his daughter, family and friends, and the unconditional generosity and true caring people can give to one another. I would highly recommend this book for anyone and everyone.

Christmas on Jane Street first intrigued me since my name is Jane, and I've spent time in New York City and also rural New England, both settings in this book.

It's a beautifully written tale about how the people of New York City befriend, and in turn are befriended by, a family from rural Vermont. The father in the family comes to believe that his daughter has turned to 'city' values, and feels that she is no longer his best friend. In the end, the meaning of family and the holiday spirit is poignantly brought to light.

This book is very relevant to today's families because it talks to the misunderstandings, conflicts, and - ultimately - love, bonding parents and their children. (And it's so well written that I read it completely in one sitting.)

Christmas on Jane Street would be a great gift from a parent to a teen or adult child, or to anyone who believes in the holiday spirit of love and forgiveness...

after readcing this bbok, you'll want to come down to jane street next year and stand around watching and talking to Romp family members..nd gawk at the little beat-up pickup truck with the 8 foot cap/camper on the back Imagine living for a month right off 8th ave..on a street. After reading the book and talking with the Romps..you'll be more amazed to learn that come April, they will take off from Vermont on a bicycle built for four heading for Alaska!!

We live on Jane Street and the Romps have been filling our holiday season with great joy for many years now. They are what they appear to be and have told their story in an eloquent and touching manner. This wonderful story of a father and a daughter reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas.

I LOVE Holiday stories, and I LOVE true-life stories, so I thought this one would be a slam-dunk. Instead, I'm wondering why this book was written, and what purpose it serves.

This is the story of a family of Vermont farmers spend most of December in NY's Greenwich Village, selling Christmas Trees on the corner of Jane Street and 8th Avenue. They live in a tiny camper with no running water while they are there, but the neighborhood comes out in droves to support and provide food, electricity, water, comforts, etc. while they are there.

While I loved the bits about their neighbors, and life in NY in the holidays, the "main plot" of the story was lacking. Billy Romp becomes despaired when his young daughter, Ellie, decides that for Christmas, she'd very much like to go see the Nutcracker with one of the families in the neighborhood. Romp, who had planned on giving her a toolbox for Christmas, immediately despises the idea and believes that her desire to see the Nutcracker means that his daughter must be turning on her own family and the simple, "back to the land" way that Romp and his wife has raised her.

There's some confusion about a phone call (during which the parent in me screamed "if you were so worried, why didn't YOU make the call, Mr. Romp?") and finances (the enterprising young daughter opens her own little candle stand to raise funds for her ticket to the Nutcracker) along the way, and all ends well, but the book sort of made me sad- shouldn't we have more faith in our own children, especially when everything they have done up to a certain point has been with good intention and love? Maybe because I was once a little girl myself, I could see the appeal of going to see the Nutcracker over a toolbox, especially for a young woman who spends most of her time on a farm, away from the bright lights and the big city. It's a moment of magic. But Billy Romp agonizes over it and argues about it and forbids it and it made me *so* sad for his daughter.

The book was quick to read (finished it in a few hours), lovely to hold and look at (thick glossy pages and sweet watercolor illustrations) but I didn't really get anything out of it. Except that maybe I need to put even more faith and trust in my own daughter, and let her follow her own heart. Even though I'd much prefer she were into gardening and animals, and she much prefers sparkles and Princesses and fairy tales, I still know she's entitled to be her own person.

I actually think this would have made a nice children's book, if it focused on the characters in the neighborhood and the candle stand. I'd love to hear the story from Ellie's perspective- surely it might be more about the true spirit of Christmas- magic, love, community, family.

i received this book a couple of years ago and was enchanted by it. i live in NJ so for the last 3 years have gone to "jane street" to see this wonderful family. the first year i brought my book with me and the entire family signed it and were absolutely lovely. the next two years i have welcomed them to nyc and brought them cookies, popcorn, etc. they are a joy to manhattan and all mankind. a marvelous family who arrive in their trailer on jane street the day after thanksgiving ever year since 1988 or 1989 (forgot which!)---if you are in new york during this period in time - go pay them a visit; fanatastic family!!!!!!

I heard about this book in a Country Living magazine. I kept the title in my mind for a couple of years until I ran across it again and bought in on Amazon.com. It was worth the wait. The book is about a family who sells Christmas trees every year on Jane Street in NYC. It reminds you of the importance of family and confirms that everyone needs their family and even strangers can become your family. This book reconfirms the value of caring about others.

If you're a parent, you'll see yourself in this story. We all have that moment when we realize our child is not an extension of ourselves - most of us just can't tell about it so eloquently. I'm passing the book on to my daughter.