Papa had said that they would have to choose between turkey and a few small gifts for Christmas. But could it still be Christmas with no packages to wrap on Christmas Eve, no secrets to share-and on Christmas morning no bulging stockings or exciting bundles?

Of course there was still the feeling of crisp, cold starlight, of bells chiming. Company was still coming for Christmas dinner, with turkey and everything that goes with it...and best of all, her sister, Martha, was almost well and would soon be coming home from the hospital. But Bess felt very strange, all the same.

This is the perfect Christmas book to read aloud, a book for every child who has ever asked, "What was it like in olden times when you were young, Mother?" And also for every adult who cherishes the memory of Christmases long ago. It is an enchanting story about a family who makes Christmas come true in a time of troubles, and of a young girl who learns that the shape and color of Christmas are made up of love given and received.

Marguerite de Angeli, as all her devoted readers know, has her own special way of communicating wonder and magic in her writing and her illustrations. She has never done so more beautifully than in this true story of her own childhood, written for her grandchildren and their children, with all the warmth and reality of happy recollection.