Lee Kingman

Ten-year-old Erkki Seppala, the son of Finnish immigrants, loved Christmas. Wishing for the best Christmas ever on his way home one December day, he was dismayed to discover that his oldest brother Matti, who served on a granite barge operating between Cape Ann and Boston, was missing, along with his entire ship. This cast quite a pall over his large, close-knit family, and for a time it seemed that it might ruin Christmas. Erkki however, determined to carry on as Matti would want, had the show more idea of creating Christmas gifts for the rest of the family, in lieu of the ones that his brother would always bring home. In the process he gained some insight into various family members, and learned an important lesson about the pleasure that planning for and giving to others can bring. In the end, Erkki's loving thoughtfulness, and the return of Matti at the last minute, ensured that this was indeed the best Christmas ever...

Originally published in 1949, and illustrated by the marvelous Barbara Cooney, Lee Kingman's The Best Christmas is a truly delightful holiday read. The large and loving Seppala family come alive on the page, as does Erkki, with his love of Christmas and his desire to create some holiday magic for the rest of his family, in a difficult time. I found the story here wonderfully well-written, and had to stop from time to time to reread certain passages, to savor their sensitive depiction of the characters' lives, and to savor their pathos. When his worried mother takes one of her young children on her lap, she is described as rocking him as if "she were trying to keep all children, big and small, safe in her arms." When Erkki's father comes home one evening, the entire family "looked up and asked the same question without even saying it out loud. Father just shook his head." I was surprised at the beauty and perceptiveness of the writing here, given that the only other title I had ever read from Kingman - 1943's Pierre Pidgeon, which won illustrator Arnold Edwin Bare a Caldecott Honor in 1944 - struck me as fairly unremarkable, textually speaking. Apparently Kingman based the Seppala family on her husband's, so perhaps that lent her narrative a certain power. Or perhaps Pierre Pidgeon just wasn't her best book. Whatever the case may be, I was both entertained and moved by The Best Christmas, finding it both well-written and emotionally resonant. I also greatly appreciated the artwork contributed by Cooney. Every page had some decoration, whether large or small, and they greatly enhanced the reading experience. All in all, a wonderful book - one of my rare five-star titles! show less

I picked this book up because I saw it in a stack of books on an urban exploration youtube show and was fascinated by peoples' memories of it. For the most part, it was okay. And around page 85, when Wendy is bringing back groceries to the hippie loft it peaked my attention because that sequence was so energetic. However, the first third is a little slow where you get to follow Wendy about yearning for freedom and self-discovery before running away.
The second third is fine and this is where show more my favorite segment shows up. The activity around the nearby commons and getting to know the other, sometimes infuriating, characters is pretty good. The final third of the book works with the homeless burnt-out Nell attacking the protagonist, Wendy, over the unfortunate and delusional Donald. It's not so much exciting or action-packed but it worked for me for the author to throw in a little violence and sudden tragedy.
Of course, it was an easy read being the 1970 equivalent of YA. Although, it did seem to try to carry a "this could happen to you" vibe in certain instances but is definitely subtler than an afterschool special type of deal. The cops are talked about in terms you would expect i.e. as "pigs" and react as you would expect when clearing the park commons but then are shown carefully carrying an emaciated hippie girl from a basement squat while comparing her to his own daughter. Not that this book is particularly subtle either but no one is portrayed as all bad and all good including the hippies. I like that especially when it comes to books like this.
The only real complaint I have about this book is that the protagonist, Wendy, is just so very plain and boring. She never exhibits the impulsiveness that she has when she runs away nor does she really pursue any course at finding herself not even any real intentional drug experimentation. I was a little disappointed.
Overall, I enjoyed the book for what it was especially so when I made it to the second third of the book. Although when Wendy would start thinking/talking over more than a paragraph I kind of scanned over it. I guess if you're in the market for an easy read pseudo-cautionary hippie-tale this might be what you're looking for. show less

Set on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, 1944 Caldecott Honor Book Pierre Pidgeon follows the story of the eponymous Pierre, a fisherman's son who likes to create model ships, and who longs to know the secret of the model-ship-in-a-bottle that is for sale at Mr. LeClerc's general store. After unexpectedly earning some money from a lady painter who has come to the area to work, Pierre is able to buy the bottled ship, only to drop and break it when he arrives home. Now how will Pierre ever show more figure out how the ship got into the bottle?

Although the story here is engaging enough, the real star is the beautiful illustrations, which look to be done using some kind of block print (wood? linoleum?) method, with black, gray, green and pale orange ink. The result is artwork with a distinctive folk sensibility that feels quite well suited to the rural fishing village being depicted. Recommended to readers young and old who enjoy vintage picture-books, or who appreciate block-print art. show less

Love this story of two little girls, each from different social backgrounds, who independently discover the same little tree in the forest and set out to decorate it for Christmas.