THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE

An old legend about the origin of the Christmas tree is pleasantly retold by Miss Pauli and nicely illustrated by Kurt Werth. It tells of a ragged child who was welcomed into the meagre cottage of Peter and Marie somewhere in the Black Forest of Germany. Grateful for the kindness shown him, the little stranger tells a story of how all the trees of the forest came to adore Christ in the manger including the scrawny black spruce and how, in the wake of derisive laughter, Christ blessed the little tree and caused it to glow. In the morning when Peter and Marie search frantically for the missing stranger, they are astonished to see a silvery shining spruce outside their window and to hear a voice that reveals the true identity of their visitor. Religious libraries in the home or the Sunday school should find this nice addition to their collections.