For Christmas, Cindy Ellis, information technology systems specialist at Holland/New Library, will give her daughters and their families one of the gifts she most loves — the book “Miracle on 34th Street.” That’s right; not the movie, the book.
“The book and the film were developed at the same time, in 1947,” Ellis said. “I, like most, remember the original movie as a great memory of my childhood.
“The movie was wonderful, but there is nothing like sitting in front of the fireplace with your grandchild, child or just by yourself and reading the words out loud — visualizing the story for yourself,” she said.
This year the book has been reissued as a facsimile of the original edition, its vintage cover in muted reds and greens lending “that ‘40s, old-timey appeal,” according to one review.
“This ‘children’s’ book reminds us what the spirit of Christmas is all about,” Ellis said, adding that she hopes her daughters will cherish that reminder as she has. “In the end, I always believe all over again,” she said. “It’s Christmas magic…”
Equally magical is a favorite Italian Christmas folktale, especially as told and pictured by children’s author Tomie dePaola in “The Legend of Old Befana.” It is the Christmas book pick of Bob Pringle, director of library services for the Betty M. Anderson Library at the Intercollegiate College of Nursing in Spokane.
“I love Tomie dePaola’s illustrations,” said Pringle of the simple, richly colored art, citing that as the primary reason for his choice. “But I also like the story.”
It tells of a fussy old woman too busy sweeping to accompany the three kings in their quest for the Christ Child. When she finally is moved to follow, she gathers food and toys as gifts for the new baby. But it is too late; though she follows his star, she never finds the infant. However, she does leave her gifts for other children along the way and in that fashion finds and shares the spirit of Christmas.
In addition to the Bible’s Christmas story, “it has aspects of the Martha and Mary story from the Gospels” too, Pringle said. It strikes “a note of warning for those of us who can get too busy to deal with our real goals” and most important priorities, he said.
Christmas priorities of family, friends and tradition also win out in “Skipping Christmas,” the holiday book choice of Joan Campbell, library supervisor in the Health Sciences Library on the Pullman campus.
“The idea of skipping all this hubbub and going off to a warm climate for vacation is attractive,” Campbell said of the book’s main plot. “But the tradition of Christmas really is sort of ingrained in all of us,” as the story’s main characters find out when they forego their tropical escape to provide the expected traditional Christmas for their daughter, who comes home for the holidays at the last minute.
A fan of author John Grisham’s legal thrillers, Campbell said she likes “Skipping Christmas” because “it is so totally out of character for Grisham. That is refreshing.”
This season’s theater release, “Christmas with the Kranks,” is based on the book. Campbell hasn’t seen the movie, and expects she will wait until it comes out in video. It has had mixed reviews, she said, “but how could you go wrong with Tim Allen (the lead actor) in a Christmas movie?”
In the meantime, she will enjoy the book … whenever she sees it again. “I’ve passed it on to so many people, I don’t even know where my copy is now,” Campbell said.
Staff and faculty of the WSU Libraries recommend some of their favorite holiday books:
• Butch the Cougar:“The Cat Who Came for Christmas,” by Cleveland Amory.
• Betty Galbraith, Owen Science & Engineering Library: “The Night Before Christmas,” by Clement Moore; illustrated by Jan Brett.
• Kay and Lou Vyhnanek, Holland/New Library: “Cajun Night Before Christmas,” by Trosclair, Howard Jacobs; ill. by James Rice.
• John Webb and Lynn Chmelir, Holland/New Library: “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” by Dylan Thomas.
• Bob Pringle, ICN Library/Spokane: “The Legend of Old Befana: an Italian Christmas Story,” retold and ill. by Tomie de Paola.
• Jean Smith, Holland/New Library: “One Wintry Night,” by Ruth Bell Graham.
• Greg Matthews, Holland/New Library: “A Christmas Memory,” by Truman Capote.
• Lipi Turner-Rahman, Architecture Library: “Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates,” by Mary Maples Dodge.
• Michael Landers, Owen Science & Engineering Library: “The Polar Express,” by Chris Van Allsburg.
• Helen Thomas, Holland/New Library: “The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t,” by Ogden Nash.
• Alisa May, Holland/New Library: Luke Chapter 2, the Bible.
• Diane Klein, Energy Library/Olympia: “David Copperfield,” by Charles Dickens.
• Sue Shipman, Brain Education Library: “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens.
• Cheryl Gunselman, Holland/New Library: “The Cricket on the Hearth,” by Charles Dickens.
• Lara Cummings, Holland/New Library: “Eloise at Christmastime,” by Kay Thompson.
• Nancy Beebe, Holland/New Library: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” by Barbara Robinson.
• Robyn Haynes, Owen Science & Engineering Library: “The Christmas Quilt,” by Thomas J. Davis.
• Patsy Tate, Holland/New Library: “Christmas, Present,” by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
• Cindy Ellis, Holland/New Library: “Miracle on 34th Street,” by Valentine Davies.
• Elizabeth Gifford, Health Sciences Library: “The Tall Book of Christmas,” by Dorothy H. Smith.
• Nancy Spitzer, Holland/New Library: “Holiday on Ice,” stories by David Sedaris.
• Beth Lindsay, Holland/New Library: “This Year It Will be Different,” by Maeve Binchy.
• Joan Campbell, Health Sciences Library: “Skipping Christmas,” by John Grisham.
• Kristen Davis, Holland/New Library: “Rest You Merry,” by Charlotte Macleod.
• Sharon Walbridge, Holland/New Library: “Silent Night: The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce,” by Stanley Weintraub.
• Cindy Kaag, Owen Science & Engineering Library: “The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey,” by Roger Highfield.
• Ginny Steel, Holland/New Library: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” by Dr. Seuss.
