This lovely retelling of an old Mexican legend transports us to the mountains of Mexico, where a young girl, Lucida, prepares for Christmas with her family. Her mother is a fine weaver, and the Padre asks her to make a new blanket for the Baby Jesus. When her mother falls ill, she longs to help finish the blanket, but only seems to make a mess of things. With no gift for the Baby Jesus, Lucida hides and watches the procession from afar. An old woman assures her that "any gift is beautiful because it is given" and that "Whatever you give, the Baby Jesus will love, because it comes from you."

Feeling more courageous, Lucida picks a bundle of weeds and brings them to the Baby Jesus in the manger scene at church, where they are beautifully transformed.

When I was little, there was one Advent tradition that really stands out in my mind: the annual viewing of the movie, Miracle on 34th Street. It usually aired on the last weekday before Christmas Eve - we'd be home on Christmas Break, wrapping presents or decorating the house, and this classic would be playing in the background. I'm talking about THE classic 1947 movie - Natalie Wood as the little girl, Maureen O'Hara and John Payne as the "love interest", Gene Lockhart as the judge with a heart, and the ultimate St. Nick: Edmund Gwenn. This is the movie to start your holiday season!

The idea for the movie originated as the Davies family watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from their apartment in post-WWII New York City. Mr. Davies remarked on the growing commercialism of the season and asked "What would Santa do if he were here today?" The answer was a classic movie from 20thCentury Fox. The book, The Miracle on 34th Street, is true to this original movie - written by Davies and his wife after the movie's debut, the book was an instant success. The copy we have, reprinted in 1998 by Galahad Books, is richly illustrated by Tomie de Paola.

This has been our lunch-time read-aloud since Advent began. The book stays very close to the movie but does have some slight differences - there is no young Alfred in this book, but Mr. Sawyer is just as rotten!

Reading this book aloud to my 3, 5, and 6 year-olds has helped me understand why I've always loved this story. Kris Kringle explains early on that "Christmas isn't just a day. It's a frame of mind." Towards the end of the book, Doris explains to her daughter that "faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to... Anyone could have faith when everything was fine. But real faith meant believing, rain or shine." These two quotes are a summation of why Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and why I don't mind my little ones believing in Santa Claus - he's the personification of the magic of the season and the mystery of Incarnate Word!

This is the intriguing and classic story of Artaban, the "other" wise man who searches for Jesus his whole life while "foolishly" spending his treasures - which had been intended as a gift for the newborn king - on the poor and needy. A beautiful and touching story, it is quite short, but the vocabulary is challenging enough to be appropriate for upper grade school or high school.