Christmas Book Review
Confronting Kris Kringle

Christmas Book Review

Suppose you were confronted with the suspicion you had just hired the real Santa Claus-Mr. Honest-to-Goodness Kris Kringle himself? Would you believe it? Or, on the other hand, suppose you were Mr. Kringle, how would you go about proving your genuine identity? This is the problem posed-and solved-by Valentine(!) Davies in Miracle on 34th Street. Even if you have seen the play innumerable times on TV, read the book to get the full impact.

You may want to check up on How Christmas Came To Hawaii, also. Roger Bye has written an informative little booklet first printed in 1951 and reprinted in 1960. (A third printing in 1967 was sponsored jointly by Dillingham and the Star Bulletin, with proceeds for the benefit of the Salvation Army "work in behalf of the less fortunate children in Hawaii").

Christmas Book Review

One of the loveliest presentations of the Bible story is The Christ Child by Maud and Miska Petersham, done in 1951 but still fresh and beautiful.

Another unusual treatment of an old favorite is Ilonka Karasz's illustrations for The Twelve Days of Christmas. A page spread is devoted to each step in the dramatic march of the "twelve days" and each picture is a complete composition. Delectable!

Christmas Book Review

A colorful edition of Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, another traditional Christmas TV offering, is done by artist Roger Duvoisin with narrative adaptation by Francis Frost. Watch the performance with this book in hand to follow the dialogue or read it beforehand to know what to expect. For that matter, why not read it just for fun?

If you are singing carols this Christmas, be sure to look over the Trapp Family Book of Christmas Songs and the Oxford Book of Carols. Try some of the more unfamiliar ones along with old favorites.

Birthdays: Dec.22, 1869, E.A. Robinson (Poet), Tristam; Dec.23, 1919, Thomas Heggen, Mister Roberts; Dec.24, 1881, Juan Ramon Jiminez (Poet), Baladas De Primavera; December 25, Christmas Day: The Christ Child; Dec. 26, 1891, Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer; Dec. 27, 1896, Louis Bromfield, Green Bay Tree; Dec. 28, 1708, Charles Wesley, (Evangelist), Journal.

Oletha Williams