The True Gift: A Christmas Story (by Patricia MacLachlan)

Lily and her younger brother Liam take their annual trip to their grandparents' farm for Christmas, loaded with books to read and plans for buying presents at the local general store. But Liam notices right away that their grandparents' last cow, White Cow, is now all alone, and he believes it is lonely. So he embarks on a plan, with his sister's initially reluctant help, to find out about the emotional life of cows, and then to do something about it.

How is it that Patricia Maclachlan has never done a Christmas story before? Could there be a more perfect match for the holiday season than her gorgeously simple, lyrical prose, her gentle way of revealing depths of character through dialog, her deep understanding of the human heart? Nobody, but nobody, can make the simple joys of family love so breathtakingly clear.

Not only is there no sex, drugs, violence, swearing, or anything else a parent might be concerned about; there are also, as in Maclachlan's other books, no villains either. She doesn't need them. How is it possible for a story so sweet and gentle to be so engrossing and so deeply moving, yet not for a moment cloying or sappy? She does it, in part, with prose that is drily matter-of-fact and earthy, yet manages at the same time to read like the best poetry ever written for children, with rhythms that carry readers along on currents of feeling. This is a book to read together with a child, curled up on a winter evening in bed or in front of a fireplace, and let those currents carry your child into sleep.

The b&w drawings are gentle and unobtrusive.

Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrator: Brian Floca
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 16, 2009
Number of pages: 81
Hardcover price: $12.99
Read Aloud: 7
Read Alone: 8