Christmas Programs

Greetings from amidst the Christmastime bustle! Things have been moving right along here with decorating the library, the Redskin Singers coming to perform, and the Fancy Nancy Spendiferous Brunch & Soiree'. Two more events are approaching. One is the library's annual Gingerbread House decorating. New and exciting items are being added to the great assortment of goodies participants can use to create their own unique house. Everything is provided. Youngsters ages 4 to 11 are invited to take part. The event will take place on Saturday, December 17, starting at 9:30 a.m. This is a reservation activity, so give the library a call to reserve a spot for your child. Don't miss out on a good time! The second event is Poppa D. Clown's Magical Christmas. This is a free program that will take place in the Children's Library on Wednesday, December 21, at 2 p.m. The program will be approximately 45 minutes in length. Plan to come and join in the fun!

A number of new Christmas titles have been added to our collection in the last few weeks. Here is a sampling. Olivier Dunrea, best known for the Gossie & Friends series, brings us A Christmas Tree for Pyn. In spite of Pyn's father's objections, she manages to get him to help her find the perfect Christmas tree, and in the process forges a closer relationship with him. This is a heartwarming story indeed.

The Christmas story is beautifully told in Lauren Thompson's One Starry Night. All sorts of animals watch over their young as Mary & Joseph watch over their baby boy, Jesus.

Jennifer Holm provides another episode of her famous Babymouse series with A Very Babymouse Christmas. This series is for chapter book readers.

Home for Christmas is another of Jan Brett's books with her beautifully decorated signature borders. In this tale, Rollo the troll gets bored doing chores and runs off to spend some time on the tundra with various animals who live there. Finally he decides that he wants to be home for Christmas, even if it means he will have to behave better than he has in the past.

For those who are fans of non-fiction, check out Franklin and Winston: A Christmas that Changed the World by Douglas Wood. Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, these two great world leaders met at the White House at Christmastime to decide how best to face the threats which were occurring worldwide. This was the beginning of an alliance between the United States and Great Britain. The book shows the human side of these gentlemen as they got to know each other better during that Christmas season.

A fiction story based on a true event is The Lighthouse Christmas by Toni Buzzeo, a story of a family facing hardship in their newly assigned, isolated lighthouse post but how a special flight service, the Flying Santa Service, saves Christmas for the family. Here's a bit for information about that service. "In 1929, the first year of the Great Depression, aviation pioneer Captain William Wincapaw began the tradition of "The Flying Santa." Also known as the "Santa of the Lighthouses," Wincapaw oversaw flying operations for the Curtiss Flying Service at Rockland, Maine. He had a great deal of admiration for lighthouse keepers and their families, who served in isolated and inhospitable locations. On the morning of December 25, 1929, Wincapaw loaded his aircraft with a dozen packages of Christmas gifts and delivered them to a number of local lighthouses. By 1933, the Flying Santa program was so well received that Wincapaw expanded it to include ninety-one lighthouses throughout Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Wincapaw began to dress as Santa and he enlisted his son, Bill, Jr., to help pilot some of the flights." Since this title was checked out and exact facts could not be obtained from the back of the book, this information was taken from the Coast Guard Compass, which is the official blog of the U. S. Coast Guard.

Christmas Eve at the Mellops' by Tomi Ungerer is the story of the four Mellop brothers who each had the idea to provide their family with a Christmas tree. Now the family must decide what to do with four trees.

Our collection features many of the old Christmas standards, such as Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas and 'Twas the Day Before Christmas, which is the story of the poem The Night Before Christmas. In addition, there are a lot of books following the Night Before Christmas format--The Redneck Night Before Christmas, The Librarian's Night Before Christmas, and The Barnyard Night Before Christmas. A quick perusal of our card catalog will bring up a wealth of Christmas titles to be enjoyed. Stop by and check them out, as well as our Christmas activities. See you at Memorial Library!