The House in the Tree

And Other Tales of Places, People, and Things

By Fredrika Shumway Smith 
Illustrations by Salcia Bahnc 
Copyright 1941

This old book of poetry for children is full of verses that speak right to a child’s heart. They are simple poems about everyday things that children understand. I picked up this book while straightening up after Christmas, and it fell open to this little poem.

The Cotton Doll 
My dolls are very pretty,
Except one tiny thing,
For she is made of cotton,
Tied with a yellow string.

She is my favorite dolly
Although she’s old and worn;
Some dolls I know are thrown away,
And other ones are torn.

I always keep my dolls with me,
When I am well or ill,
And when I’m big and all grown up
I’ll love them better still.

Wouldn’t you know, sitting right next to this book of poetry was my dear little doll, Thumbelina. Thumbelina was my own favorite dolly, old and worn, although I suppose she looked a bit less worn before I took to her blond hair with my scissors! She was out on the shelf because, on Christmas day, I brought her out to show-and-tell about an adventure she had one day, long, long ago.  

You’ll have to know that in my opinion, one of the best things about Thumbelina was the string attached to her back that I could pull to make her do a cute little wiggling motion. I say was, because that string has been gone for quite a long time. One day, when I was probably about 4 or 5 years old, my sister thought I would enjoy seeing Thumbelina fly.  Of course, according to a 10-year-old, the way to make Thumbelina fly was to grab her by the string and vigorously swing her around and around over her head. Thumbelina flew, all right! She flew all the way across the room, while the string remained firmly in my sister’s grasp! The look on Amy’s face was shock, but I think a remember a bit of stifled laughter too. I’m sure she apologized, and I know I got over it, but I will never, ever forget it! So, although I’m big and all grown up, I still keep Thumbelina around, and I’ll forever tell the story of her wild ride.

Funny thing is, as I was putting my doll away, I noticed a resemblance between Thumbelina and a sweet little girl I know. Perhaps in a year or two, this little girl will enjoy playing with Thumbelina as much as I did! I promise, I will keep my scissors away from her hair!

Harold at the North Pole

By Crockett Johnson

Copyright 1957

 It is Christmas Eve and Harold needs a tree. Purple crayon in hand, he cheerfully sets out to find one. Then he remembers that for Santa to come by sleigh, there has to be snow. Never fear, Harold will take care of it. He and his purple crayon can solve any problem! 

On his journey, Harold eventually arrives at the North Pole where Santa is in trouble. How can Santa deliver presents to all the girls and boys without his sleigh and reindeer? As usual, Harold calmly addresses the problem and uses his purple crayon to help Santa get ready. Finally arriving back at home, Harold draws his own Christmas tree and settles in a comfy chair to wait for Santa.

If a way to overcome your obstacle isn’t obvious – if a solution doesn’t yet exist – take a lesson from Harold and create the solution yourself. We may not have a magic crayon like Harold has, but we do have the ability to think creatively to solve our problems.  Like Harold, we can control our own destiny!

The Snowy Day

By Ezra Jack Keats

1963 Caldecott Winner

 

This award-winning picture book beautifully illustrates the wonder of waking up as a young child, looking outside the window, and seeing a fresh, thick snow covering your world.  

Peter put on his red snowsuit and ran outside. He discovered that his boots made patterns in the snow as he crunched along the sidewalk. A stick could make a pattern also, but it could also knock snow out of a tree, right on top of his head. Peter wasn’t quite old enough to play snowball fight with the big boys, but he was quite content on his own, making a snowman and snow angels. Not wanting the fun to end, he packed a nice round snowball and put it in his pocket for the next day. After a warm bath, Peter checked on his snowball and was sad to find that it was gone! Never fear, though, for the next morning, a fresh snow had fallen and Peter could once again play outside.

I was so happy to see the new Forever stamp series with images from The Snowy Day, for this is an absolutely beautiful book, but also a very important book. It isn’t only a universal story of a child’s wonder and joy at a fresh snowfall. What is special about this book is that Peter is a little black boy. For the first time, a black child was pictured as the central character. His race is never mentioned in the text. Peter is just a little boy joyously playing in the snow. I can just imagine how validating it must have been for a black child to finally see himself in a picture book! 

This book teaches a lesson to the world. Yes, we do come in many colors. Deep down, though, we are the same. What child, black or white, or any color in between, wouldn’t be full of wonder and joy at a Snowy Day.