BooksForKidsBlog

Thursday, December 03, 2020

Have Yourself A Merry, LITTLE Christmas! Merry Christmas, Mary Christmas! by Laurie Friedman

CHRISTMAS WAS A VERY MERRY TIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS FAMILY...

... Except for their daughter, Mary Christmas. It's enough of a burden to have a name that sounds like a holiday. But the real deal is that the Christmas family can't have a normal Christmas. Every year it has to be a bigger and better extravaganza.

Dad's Christmas tree has to be BIG, so Jack-in-the-Beanstalk big that they have to make a hole in the roof to put it up. Their outdoor lights are guilty of over-GLOW! Their pooch Rudy howls "Jingle Bells" when they go caroling. And Mary is borderline ashamed when they pile way too many presents in their cart when they shop. When the mall Santa take Mary on his knee, she makes a confession:

"I WANT TO LOVE CHRISTMAS," MARY TELLS SANTA, "BUT OUR TREE IS TOO TALL, OUR LIGHTS ARE TOO BRIGHT, AND EVERYTHING IS JUST TOO MUCH!"

Santa can't quite wrap his red-capped head around the idea of too much Christmas, but he gives Mary a wink and a nod.

"I HAVE A FEELING YOU CAN FIND A WAY TO LOVE IT!" HE WHISPERS.

But on Christmas Eve, Mary can't fall asleep. She tosses and turns until she comes to a conclusion.

And when the family gathers on Christmas morn, Mary makes a statement.

"WE DON'T NEED LOADS OF LIGHTS AND PILES OF PRESENTS!" SHE POINTS OUT.

And Mary Christmas shares her plan to give everyone a merry Christmas. They load up the Christmas van with their prodigious pile of gifts and the cookies and the lights and the enormous tree and take it all down to the town square, where they throw a proper Christmas Christmas party for the whole population--and for little Mary Christmas, it's just the right size at last.

Veteran picture book author Laurie Friedman's right-sized Christmas tale, Merry Christmas, Mary Christmas! (CarolRhoda Books) is a comic message about moderation in all things, including Christmas. Little Mary Christmas may be in the minority on the subject of moderate Christmases, but most will enjoy her jolly generosity with its quiet message of giving that suits the season.

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