A HAPPY BOOK OF HAPPY STORIES

by William J. Lederer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 1981

Five teeny-weeny stories which Lederer (A Nation of Sheep, Marital Choices) told his children to prove that there really is a Santa Claus. (""Deep within me I knew that the legend of Santa Claus was more than a dream . . . I knew that Santa Claus was real."") Other parents might find, however, that these wee sugar-plums don't quite do the trick: a Christmas Day story on a WW II Navy destroyer, when four family-less gobs got Christmas presents from movie queens and serenaded the Captain with ""Silent Night""; a fable about an insect who selflessly saves a Princess and is rewarded with a diamond (thus becoming the first firefly); an anecdote about Christmas Eve at a cafÉ in Nice, when a US sailor's gift to an old flower woman inspired everyone with the Christmas spirit; ""Timothy's Song,"" about an eleven-year-old hunchback who sells newspapers, can't sing in the choir because of his raspy voice, but dies of pneumonia, goes to heaven, and there sings ""loud, clear, and beautiful"" for the Lord. And finally Lederer tells of meeting Santa himself, or at least a good facsimile: a jolly fat soul in a red sweatshirt who spends every December helping travelers at a small airport. Even by inspirational-lit standards--a limp little gathering.

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION