SPECIAL MOMENTS

Around the globe people are celebrating. Why December in particular? I can only speculate. Artificial intelligence suggests that as darkness comes earlier each day, we all need a reason to seek joy.

I set out to write this blog about books that help us celebrate. Books that through generations have created special memories. I wanted to feature a classic book for each of these December holidays. Unfortunately, I don’t know which stories resonate within every culture.

As always, I researched. There are several wonderfully written blog posts offering lists of current books that explain the sentiment and history of each of these special days, but nothing really struck the emotional nerve I was seeking. They didn’t reflect the personal experiences. The heart ingrained in these celebrations. The innate reason we sometimes look forward to these dark winter days.

That’s where you come in.

This is a group exercise. Let’s develop a repository of special memories centering on reading: to ourselves, yes, but especially to children. A catalogue of timeless holiday moments with books. Think of this as an opportunity to share your treasured experiences. A way to welcome others into what brings you joy. And please share this widely! Let’s make our anthology as diverse and global as possible. Maybe we can even get it published!

I’ll go first.

Winter and Christmas: When my children were little, throughout the month, we’d search Jan Brett’s rich and detailed illustrations seeking the hidden friends beautifully crafted and skillfully camouflaged. Her books The Mitten, and Gingerbread Baby were most often requested. Shouts of “there he goes,” still resonate and make me smile.

Myself, I most enjoyed watching my children fall asleep to the cadence and calm of Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (which I still keep by my bedside this time of year). But the best of all was Christmas Eve. The kids cozy in their jammies peeking out the window, trembling in anticipation, until hearing the first line of the most special story of the year, Clement Clarke Moore’s, A Visit from St. Nicholas… ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and all through the house… and my kids would be snuggled in with blankets pulled up to their chins, trying to stop the wiggling still in their toes.

I’m smiling now. Thanks for letting me revisit these special moments.

Please, tell us your favorite tales. Share your special reading memories and the sentiments they evoke. Let us all into your private world to experience how you find light through books on these dark December days. We seek joy in many different ways, but especially by storytelling.

And, whatever and however you celebrate, Happy Holidays to All and to All a Good Night!