Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrator: Barbara Cooney
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1954
Age: 3-7
Themes: trees, growth, christmas story
Opening: A little fir tree stood by the edge of a forest, a little way off from the great green trees.
Summary: (from my library catalog) A lonely little fir tree, standing by itself at the edge of the forest, has its life transformed when a father takes it home to serve as a living Christmas tree for his bedridden son.
Why I like this book: I like this version of Margaret Wise Brown’s book out of sentimentality: my beloved school librarian, Mrs. Nurnberg, read this one to us in elementary school.
Resources/Activities: take a walk in the forest and identify trees by their species and their age; discuss illnesses and what an illness might prevent one from doing; share your favorite Christmas songs.
For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.
julie rowan-zoch 
Love it!!!
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How did I not know about this book? I love the illustrations — so charming. I hope my library has this!
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This was one of my favorite Christmas books as a child. So many memories of reading it!
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Sometimes it makes me sad, Patricia, that many may never come to know our favorites.
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I feel as if I should’ve read this book…or that at some point it may have been read to me. But I can’t remember it at all. I put it on hold. It sounds beautiful!
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Wow, where do you find these. I have not seen this one in, uh . . . a little while.
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My public library!
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It is a lovely story. Thanks for the reminder.
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