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Searching... Stillwater Public Library | EASY BUN CHRISTMAS | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
By moonlight in the quiet forest, a young boy and his family decorate their favorite tree with popcorn, apples, tangerines, and sunflower-seed balls as a gift for the animals of the woods. "Sure to become a Christmas favorite, this beautifully illustrated story of a family's unusual tradition brings to life the true spirit of Christmas."-- American Bookseller
Author Notes
Eve Bunting was born in 1928 in Maghera, Ireland, as Anne Evelyn Bunting. She graduated from Northern Ireland's Methodist College in Belfast in 1945 and then studied at Belfast's Queen's College. She emigrated with her family in 1958 to California, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969.
That same year, she began her writing career, and in 1972, her first book, "The Two Giants" was published. In 1976, "One More Flight" won the Golden Kite Medal, and in 1978, "Ghost of Summer" won the Southern California's Council on Literature for Children and Young People's Award for fiction. "Smokey Night" won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal in 1995 and "Winter's Coming" was voted one of the 10 Best Books of 1977 by the New York Times.
Bunting is involved in many writer's organizations such as P.E.N., The Authors Guild, the California Writer's Guild and the Society of Children's Book Writers. She has published stories in both Cricket, and Jack and Jill Magazines, and has written over 150 books in various genres such as children's books, contemporary, historic and realistic fiction, poetry, nonfiction and humor.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A refreshing alternative to the tinsel and sugarplum commercialism of many Christmas offerings, Bunting's ( In the Haunted House ; The Wednesday Surprise ) arrestingly simple tale resonates with genuine warmth. A boy recounts his family's annual Christmas Eve outing to a nearby wood, where they decorate a special tree (``It has been our tree forever and ever'') with fruit, seeds and strings of popcorn for the animals. Rand's ( Knots on a Counting Rope ) atmospheric watercolors create a mood of hushed excitement as they enhance the festivity of the occasion--apple-cheeked figures exude a homey cheerfulness, their brightly colored caps and blanket sparkling against the deep tones of a nighttime forest. After a mug of cocoa in front of their masterpiece and heartfelt renditions of favorite songs, the family returns home, keenly aware of ``the secrets all around us'' and pleased with the notion that the animals have a place to celebrate Christmas. Parents will take heart at this uplifting book that celebrates the spirit of the season without undue moralizing. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A boy and his family decorate a tree in the woods for the animals; popcorn chains, apples, and sunflower-seed balls are the only adornments needed to make the tree picture perfect. Later that night, the boy imagines the forest animals enjoying their feast. Rand's illustrations resonate with family love and togetherness. A welcome antidote to the commercialism of the season. From HORN BOOK 1991, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A classic nuclear family shares their own Christmas Eve tradition, leaving their conventionally decorated ranch house in Dad's pickup to deck a live tree in the woods with popcorn and fruit for the forest creatures. It's all deliberately cozy--the constant smiles; the hot chocolate and songs (the boy, who narrates, chooses a carol but little Nina wants ``Old MacDonald''); the boy tucked in at the end under a Christmas quilt that echoes the forest scene. A warm Christmas card of a book, in the best sense; Rand's moonlit watercolors are sure to be as popular as the conventional but warmhearted story. (Picture book. 3-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-8. A warm family story extends the spirit of Christmas to the dark, quiet woods and the creatures that live there. On the night before Christmas, a boy, his little sister, and their parents always drive in their father's pickup from their house with its tree and bright holiday lights to the "nice forgotten place where our town ends." Then they walk in the moonlight to their special tree. They find that it's grown, just as they have. They decorate it with all kinds of natural foods and sing carols as they huddle in the cold. Then they pack up and drive home squashed together in the front of the truck. Rand's double-spread watercolor paintings capture the family intimacy in the shadowy, secret wilderness. Together they glimpse a deer, then they hear an owl (a dramatic painting shifts perspective to show a huge owl looking down from a branch at the small family far below). There is mystery all around, and they are part of it. The next day in the midst of the boisterous human festivities, the boy imagines the wilderness animals at the tree, and the final picture shows bears and raccoons, doves and deer, feasting together. ~--Hazel Rochman
