CHRISTMAS TREE ON THE MOUNTAIN

It is still part of the New England and northern states' experience to go out and collect your own Christmas tree. This short, rather hushed story, told in a rhythmic text arranged in the fashion of free verse, recaptures an expedition by three children. An older brother and sister pulling their baby brother on a sled set out for a Christmas tree on the coldest possible December afternoon. Their problem is to find a tree small enough for them to handle and to stave off the numbing cold. All of the trees seem too big, they climb further, they meet an incredible/credible moment in exchanging a long glance with a fox. They find their tree in a difficult spot and manage to bring it down and home. Strung out in synopsis, this may not seem like much, but together with the illustrations which do suggest the snowy cold through the judicious use of blue and white, the rare experience of bringing in your own Christmas tree comes across.