The Tree Nobody Wanted: A Christmas Story by Tom McCann

Tom McCann’s new book, The Tree Nobody Wanted: A Christmas Story (Exeter Press Boston, October 2007), takes you on a journey back to the hardship and marvel of 1940s boyhood in Brooklyn, New York. On the eve of Christmas, a young boy is sent out to find a tree for the apartment where he lives with his grandmother, Nanny, and a singing bird called Sweetie.

“One thing poor people know is that at eight o’clock on Christmas Eve
all over the world, the men who sell Christmas trees simply walk off
their rented spaces and begin their own Christmas celebrations. They
just leave behind the unsold Christmas trees.”

What follows is part fable, part remembrance, part miracle. The Tree Nobody Wanted tells of a simpler Christmastime, family values, and a love that yields miracles. This touching story is a holiday treasure for all ages.

Only 45 pages, it could be a read aloud book for the whole family.

Favorite Christmas books

Someone's recent comment about their favorite Christmas book gave me the idea to start a new page for holiday favorites: Share books here for children, young adults and well, old adults. (And don't limit it just to Christmas--think Hannukah, Kwanzaa, too!)

LibrarianJack Likes:
Christmas on Jane Street: A True Story by Billy Romp with Wanda Urbanska
-- This book shares such a touching story about a father blind-sighted by the reality of his little girl growing up over the holidays. It also focuses on the warmth of community outside one's immediate family. Citizens of NYC open their arms, homes, and electrical outlets to this Christmas tree selling family from Vermont, lovingly referred to as "the Tree People."
-- It's 160 pages calls for a quick read that you won't regret!

Alison Likes:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Take Joy and A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor - her illustrations are just beautiful and capture the holiday spirit so well.
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Winnie likes:
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs

Rosencrantz likes:
'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore

MissRoo likes:
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
--I love this book! The movie was a huge disappointment to me, though. Some books simply cannot be fully captured on film.

Also, Young Claus is the story of how a little boy became Santa Claus. I can't remember the author, but I can remember lying under our Christmas tree when I was little, reading this book.

Lexophilia likes:
Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris
-- This book captures all the pain and anguish that can come hand in hand with the holidays, and makes it delightfully funny.

Jen from Ann Arbor, MI likes:
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Young Will Stanton is the seventh son of a seventh son. When he turns eleven, he discovers that he is immortal and that he must help the other Old Ones find six signs that, when united, can keep the forces of evil at bay. He must quickly learn his role as the Sign-Seeker and must search for the six signs during the Twelve Days of Christmas, for that is the time when the powers of dark are at their peak.
Susan Cooper's use of imagery and exploration of the mythic makes this adventure truly satisfying. The characters of Will and Merriman Lyon (he's like Gandolf and Dumbledore combined) are so well-drawn that I feel like I know them. I try to read The Dark Is Rising every holiday season since I can practically smell the pine and feel the snow that blankets her rural English (the Thames Valley) landscape. (For 8 and up)