Mission: READ

It seems that there are so many Christmas books out there that it would be difficult to choose a favorite.  I recently searched on Amazon.com for The Night Before Christmas and there were 1,039 hits in the Books category! And let’s not forget about The Polar Express, (the book, not the movie) by Chris Van Allsburg and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, of course.

I haven’t picked one of those, however. My favorite Christmas book is Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant. Set in the Appalachian Mountains, it tells the story of a young boy who waits for the Christmas Train to come so that he can receive a gift in a silver package tossed out by a rich man from the back of the train.  The rich man comes every year because was once helped by the townspeople during a time of crisis. 

Every year, the boy hopes for a toy doctor’s kit, and each year he receives something else, including warm socks when his toes are terribly cold and a pair of warm mittens when he can hardly move his frozen fingers. It seems somehow he always gets what he needs and a little toy besides, but never a doctor’s kit. At the end of the book, he watches the train as an adult and…well, I don’t want to spoil it. Let’s just say that I can never read this book without tearing up at the end, and even thinking about it now is getting me started (and I am not a chick-flick type person, remember).  To me, this book is about what Christmas, and life, should be all about.

Now, normally I would add:

“Want to know more about Silver Packages? Then check it out, and read it yourself! FIC RYL”

However, since our library check-out system has been broken down for the past two days and won’t be working again until after Break, I will send you to the Bloomington or Normal Public Library to get it, or to wherever fine books are lended or sold.

Enjoy your Break. Relax, rejuvenate, and read (just a little or a lot–your choice)

Mission: Accomplished