How Six Found Christmas

A little girl who had never heard of Christmas, until a wise old woman told her of it, decides that she must find out more about this mysterious holiday in this small picture-book, setting out into the Great Snow Forest of the North to look for it. On her journey she is joined first by a cat who is curious as to what a Christmas feels like, and then by a hound who wants to know what it smells like, a hawk who wishes to know what it looks like, a fox that would like to know what it tastes like, and a mockingbird who wants to know what it sounds like. When the companions find an old glass bottle in the snow, they think that they have found a "Christmas," and curiosity satisfied, they all head home. It is only when the girl gets home, show more fills the bottle with greenery, and sees it lit by starlight, that she truly discovers what Christmas is...

Originally published in 1969, and then reprinted in this 1991 edition, How Six Found Christmas is an engaging little holiday tale, one which has little to do with Christmas as a religious holiday, and everything to do with its observance as a winter festival. The format is reminiscent of a folktale, as the little girl picks up a coterie of followers along the way, each one with a different question to be answered. Picked up largely because I enjoy Trina Schart Hyman's artwork, this is a book that probably won't be going on to my list of favorite Christmas stories, but I did enjoy it as an exploration of the idea that the journey is as important as the end. Recommended to fellow fans of Hyman's, with the further recommendation that they pick up Louise Moeri's Star Mother's Youngest Child: A Classic Christmas Story, which Hyman also illustrated. show less

A magical fable that's working on my subconscious. This is the second time I've read it. Definitely original; no easy tropes, nothing turns out as expected... but there's just *something* that makes this a treasure for the right readers. (Though I can see how it would be boring for those who don't feel a connection with it.)

TSH is one of my favorite artists: here she uses a freer, gentler touch, with less intricacy in most images... it's fascinating to see the different styles she mastered over the course of her career.

Lovely illustrations. The reader journeys along with a small girl in search of Christmas. Along the way, five animals trek through the woods with her.

The girl discovers that "Christmas is not only where you find it: it's what you make if it."

It is a short story about a girl who had never heard of Christmas so goes on a journey to find it. Along the way 5 friends who also don't know about Christmas join her to find it also. The illustrations are mostly black & white with just the characters in 3 colors. I find it hauntingly beautiful and full of meaning.

Kind of an odd story. They didn't find much of a Christmas, but they did have a nice trip with pleasant camaraderie.