The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas

September 1, 2010

This short novella about a family's old-fashioned preparations for Christmas is actually a chapter from one of the novels in L'Engle's Austin Family Chronicles series. Vicky and her family get ready for the holiday by doing one special thing each day of December. Vicky is also preparing for her part as an angel in the church pageant, and her mother is ready to go to the hospital to deliver a new baby, plans that change with the arrival of a snowstorm on Christmas Eve. The story is obviously set in an earlier, simpler time, but it has a soothing flavor with its time-honored customs and a quiet, pleasant family happy to be together, even if snowbound on Christmas. Repackaged, with Weber's full-color spot illustrations to add visual interest, this should make for agreeable, alternative holiday read-aloud. (Fiction. 6-10)

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