[.ca] Scholastic Bookshelf: Christmas in the Country (ISBN 043976985X)

Archetype Christmas:
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.