[.ca] The Christmas Candle (ISBN 0689823193)

From Amazon.com:
Would you be more responsive to a brother's request for money than to a beggar's request for money? This is the question that Richard Paul Evans, author of The Christmas Box, asks his readers to consider in The Christmas Candle, a morality tale whose haunting moodiness evokes the Dickensian ghost of Christmas past. In this story, a rather unpleasant-seeming young man named Thomas is making his way home on a dark, bitterly cold Christmas Eve. In search of a candle for his tin lantern, he pushes aside a beggar to enter the shop of a village candlemaker, who has rows and rows of candles sculpted into angels, sprites, princesses. Thomas, impatient, just wants a plain old candle. The Yoda-like candlemaker sells him one, warning cryptically, "It is only four coppers, but you may find it costly." Indeed. This strange candle somehow makes Thomas see his mother's face in the face of the next beggar he encounters, and a figure lying in the gutter reveals itself to him as his brother. He gives them everything he has. Finally, penniless and cold, he reaches the music and laughter of his childhood home. When his family asks him why he has arrived empty-handed, he suddenly understands why the old man told him the candle would be costly, and his heart fills with joy: "For that Christmas Eve, a lesson was learned and taken to heart: If we will see things as they truly are, we will find that all, from great to small, belong to one family." The Christmas Candle--heavily laden with American Realist Jacob Collins's gloomy still-life paintings and bleak, eerily lit oil portraits of dour-faced beggars--is not exactly a joyous expression of holiday cheer. It is, however, a time-tested tale of charity that will resonate with young and old alike. (Ages 6 and older)

The Christmas Candle:
If you are a person who reads books to school children, this is a perfect book to read. It is the best holiday book with true meaning I have read, that teaches children to look in their environment to find ways to be helpful, and the true meaning of the holidays, that we are all one large family of mankind. You will not be disappointed in purchasing this book. Beautiful illustrations and a moving story.

a perfect christmas story about charity.:
I really enjoyed reading this book. What a powerful message it gives to its readers. What a difference this world would be if we could all be more giving and compassionate to everyone we come in contact with. I would reccommend this book to anyone that has a heart.

TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS:
BEING ONE OF EVANS FANS. I FEEL THIS BOOK TRULY DEPICTS THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS, THAT TOUCHES EVERY HEART AND AGE.

Look at the pictures:
This childrens' story book is illustrated with reproductions of Jacob Collins paintings. This book is a treasure because of these illustrations! Collins is one of foremost living realist painters. With respect to technique, he is getting up there with the likes of Odd Nerdrum and his paintings sell in the five figures last time I looked -- probably much higher now. The two portaits of women in this book are incredibly valuable for anyone who aspires to paint in the realist tradition -- or anyone who loves painting. Because it's a "story" book, this little volume costs a lot less than an art monograph, and what a treasure. Wish the images were larger, butmay-be one day we'll get a book on Collins.

I LOVE this book!:
I love this book so much. It is truly a story for all ages, and it is deeply profound and moving. To me, it is the perfect book, with perfect illustrations!!!!!!