THE LION IN THE BOX

A true story, based on a friend's childhood memory, about a poor family (widowed mother and five children) and the Christmas in 1901 when they all cut out paper stars according to directions passed on here, tell each other ""stories"" about their own earlier adventures, and receive a mysterious box which contains not a lion, as the delivery man warns, but a whole wardrobe, toy cupboard and pantry full of treats from a woman who once talked to Mama at the office where she cleans. Mrs. de Angeli tells it with a disarming, old-style simplicity and the fact that it did happen will provide all the necessary excuse for those with an annual urge to indulge these tender sentiments.