The Magic of a Small Town Christmas

PreS-Gr 2–The archetype of the idyllic small-town Christmas holiday, including its sights, sounds, and traditions, is the axis upon which this story is spun. The rhyming verse is told in a four-line cadence and describes the typical vignettes of a middle-America Christmas, such as making sweets, ice-skating on the pond, picking out a tree at a pop-up tree stand, and hanging decorations. The story culminates with the people of the town congregating for a celebratory holiday potluck. This heartwarming scene captures the true Christmas spirit of kindness to others, fellowship, and good tidings. Nakata’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations utilize light and shadow in such a way that the warmth of glowing fires and twinkling lights emanates from the page. The pastoral small-town scenery is very pleasantly rendered. Outside of this, the structure and the content of the narrative are nothing new or surprising; so many fresh takes on the Christmas genre are being published, that this one fails to stand out.