Customer Reviews

A Family Christmas

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a sucker for any good book on the holidays and how people past and present celebrate or even endure them. Unlike some books this book also has some sad parts, which remind us that not everyone has a Martha Stewart style holiday with all the trappings. But that some past and present have worried and done with little. It's one of those books that will be put on the coffee table each year to be savoured. Am so glad Truman Capote is one of those mentioned since his story A Christmas Memory has become a classic in our home. It's what makes this book A Family Christnas also special. Such a nice variety of memories from so many people. And ideas you can start to make as a tradition in your own home.

Caroline always has been and always will be my hero. I'll never forget the image of her and her brother at their father's funeral. At a young age Caroline learned to be brave. She could have lived the life of a socialite, but instead she has chosen a life of service and productivity. All of her books are wonderful...and this one is the best of all so far. It is one of the most diverse collection of Christmas writings that I have ever come across. The book is a delight and should be included in everyone's library. My favorite part of the book are those personal items written by her father and herself.

Also recommended:

Story of the Other Wise Man--A Christmas favorite from my childhood.

Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices--A new Christmas favorite.

"Are you willing ... to own, that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness ... to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings ...? Then you can keep Christmas." Henry van Dyke

Oh, how I love this book of Christmas by Caroline Kennedy. It is filled with everything Christmas. Stories written by luminaries, poems, recipes for Christmas Cake that will feed an army, pictures, Caroline's own personal Christmas stories,lyrics and Christmas traditions. And, then, of course, we can fill in our stories of Christmas.

I remember receiving my first 'bride doll' for Christmas when I was 7. She was the most beautiful of dolls, and I had written a letter to Santa Claus requesting her and nothing else. I promised to be oh, so good and to obey my parents. I realized that this doll was very expensive and that Santa might not be able to come through. And, when I found her under the tree I was estatic. I wondered later if my parents had gone without something that Christmas in order to give me that beautiful doll. When I asked my mother, she told me that my father worked several overtime shifts at the post office to be able to give my sister and me the Christmas we wanted. The true spirit of giving from my parents, and one I will never forget.

Caroline Kennedy offers a great deal of information in this beautiful book. There's also a 1961 letter from her father, President John F. Kennedy, to a Michigan girl afraid that the Russians would bomb the North Pole and harm Santa.

After writing that he shared her concerns about atmospheric testing, Presidnet Kennedy concluded: "However, you must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds this Christmas." She hadn't known about the letter until the Kennedy Library came upon it for her book, Kennedy says.

"Here are some tidbits Caroline Kennedy uncovered as she researched "A Family Christmas."

In 1659, the Puritans of Massachusetts banned the celebration of Christmas, "which had become known for public drunkenness, licentious sex and gambling."

The American vision of Santa Claus was created by Clement Clarke Moore in his 1822 poem that starts "`Twas the night before Christmas" and was later exported to the world largely via Coca-Cola ads.

Department stores--invented in America--"contributed greatly to the economic growth of Christmas." Macy's began decorating its windows in the 1870s and launched its Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created for Chicago's Montgomery Ward stores in 1939.

"The first electric Christmas-tree lights, 80 hand-blown red, white, and blue glass bulbs, festooned the 1882 tree of Edward Johnson, an executive in the Edison Illuminating Co."

America's first public Christmas tree was lit in 1912 by Caroline Kennedy's great grandfather, Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald, at 5 p.m., beating New York's Madison Square tree by half an hour." Aileen Jacobson

'A Family Christmas' is one book that should belong in every family that longs for and continues their family traditions. It is a book that can be read year round, but should at least be shared by all at Christmas time. One of my favorite pieces from the book is 'Christmas to Me' by Harper Lee.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 12-27-07


The Young Kennedy Women

The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis

A great book to bring back the true meaning of Christmas. This book will be packed away with our Christmas decorations to be brought out each year to read again and again.
I purchased additional books that I gave to our two sons and their families.
Steve

I bought this for myself, as well as 2 to give away. The book is very well done, with some eclectic selections. In particular, I enjoyed the contribution of Martin Luther King Jr's sermon; so poetic, and still so relevant today.

There are selections from carols, stories, and more here, all a lovely collection to read by the tree with the fire going, drinking some hot chocolate!

Peace on Earth, Good Will to all...

I bought 2 copies: one for my Mom who is 85, and one for friend Connie who was widowed this year. I always read my gift books before I wrap them. Caroline's collection is so delightful, so comprehensive. I live alone and I find myself with tears in my eyes, or sometimes laughing out loud. She brings me so many old memories and has presented me with many new gifts, too. Please thank her for me, from the bottom of my heart.

This book was bigger than I expected, but packed with wonderful stories, poems and pictures, all wonderful memories of Christmas to share with loved ones. Many THANKS to Caroline Kennedy for her fantastic choices, making this a collection of Christmas memories to enjoy over and over again for many years.

I purchased 2 of Caroline's book for a couple of friends. Excellent book for anyone who want to feel christmas anyday during the year. The book style and setup invoked within me the days gone by when my mother would don her elf hat and decorate the home, baking cookies and building snowmen with my dad out in the front yard.

At age 48, it was great fun for me just to browse through the pages and feel the memories of days when everything felt good and there was 'time': time when dinner was over a table covered with a table cloth, when everyone had an evening to enjoy when work wasn't brought home. No digital games, no digital phones, places of work were closed for a week or two, with few channels on the tv and reality tv shows were not needed because reality of life was sufficient cause for celebration and attention.

I would recommend this book or give it as a gift to anyone who remembers their personal experience of christmas as a discovery process filled with the warmth, joy and interaction of the human spirit.

A Family Christmas is the best collection of Christmas scriptures, carols, poetry, letters, anecdotes, essays, short stories, sections from novels, and true stories that I can imagine being assembled in one volume. Caroline Kennedy makes the book special by including her own and her family's experiences with Christmas to make you feel part of her family. If you want one family-oriented book to add to your Bible for considering Christmas, I recommend this one very highly.

For weeks, my wife has been telling me stories about Christmas that I had never heard before. I was very impressed. Then, I read A Family Christmas and found all of the stories here, word for word. You, too, can be a Christmas expert!

Before starting on the book, I made a mental list of my favorite writing about Christmas. Sure enough, except for including the whole beginnings of Matthew and Luke, everything was here.

The best part, however, was finding that more than half of the writing was new to me. And I liked the writing I hadn't seen before as much as what was familiar. That's nice.

Part of the charm of the book is that it includes the origins of Christmas (both reputable and disreputable) as well as our favorite fictions (such as Santa Claus). I got a big kick out of reading Macy's directions for their store Santas. I suspect you will, too.

Now, you might think that January would be a bad time to buy a book about Christmas. I think it's the best time because now you have more time to think about the spiritual meaning of the celebration which A Family Christmas will reinforce. I play Christmas carols all year around. Why not read about Christmas all year around (and sing some of the carols in the book)?

May God bless you in the name of Jesus!

Do yourself a favor and order this book. Read it, relax and enjoy the Christmas season!!!!