The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story

by Gloria Houston

Other authorsBarbara Cooney (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 1988

Status

Check shelf

Call number

E H

Publication

Dial (1988), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 32 pages

Description

Ruthie and her mother wonder how they will fulfill their obligation of getting the perfect Christmas tree to the town for the holiday celebration, since Papa has left the Appalachian area to go to war.

Local notes

1309-018

User reviews

LibraryThing member janaware
This book makes me cry every time I read it!
LibraryThing member mrs_rgutierrez
There is a little girl named Ruthie. Her father goes off to war leaving her mother and her behind. It is their family's turn this year to provide the town's Christmas tree. In return for providing the Christmas tree, she is the heavenly angel in the Christmas play. At the end of the Christmas play,
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she receives her two gifts: her doll and her father's return from the war.

I liked the book because it describes how struggling times were before. It also speaks on how wishes or prayers can come true.

I would have the children make crafts and cards for those who are in the hospital, a nursing home, etc. I would drop them off to the location for the children.
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LibraryThing member CiaraLohman
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, is a story of a little girl named Ruthie and her family. It is their year to provide the Christmas tree for their church so her and her papa go and pick it out in the spring time, it is also the year that Ruthie will play the angel in the Christmas play. In
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the spring Ruthie and her papa climb the high cliffs and find the perfect balsam Christmas tree. Later her papa is sent to war and her and her mother go through some hard times because they have no money from the work that the father usually does. The day before Christmas Eve Ruthie and her mother go and cut down the tree Ruthie and her papa had picked out last spring. When Ruthie goes to bed her mother races to make her a beautiful dress for the play and a little doll that Ruthie and been asking Santa for. That night Ruthie is a beautiful angel and gets the doll she had been wanting, she was worried she wasn’t going to get a gift at all but her doll was the angel on top of the tree. When they left the church, Ruthie’s father had come home from war.
This is such a beautiful little story. It really made me think of what is really important during the holidays and in life. The mother is such a strong person in the book, they sacrificed so much and the mother does her best to make sure her daughter his happy. This is a great book to show children what to focus on during Christmas and to stay strong as a family. For me, some of the most precious memories are during the holidays with my family around our tree.
Classroom extensions:
1. The tree in the book is decorated so beautifully, have the class decorate a bulletin board tree for the Christmas season.
2. Have the class write what their favorite thing about is Christmas is. Is it the tree, singing Christmas songs, getting to see family you haven’t seen for a while, or getting gifts?
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LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan
The story is lovely but a bit sad. It’s also really long. Little Ruthie and her dad pick the perfect tree in the spring and then dad goes to war. Things are tight. Ruthie can not have new clothes, or a new doll. But the family is going to make sure the church is going to get it’s Christmas
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tree.
#Wintergames #teamreadnosereindeer +26
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
It is Christmas time in the year 1918, and Ruthie and her mother await the return of Ruthie's father, off fighting in World War I, in this poignant and heart-satisfying holiday tale set in a small Appalachian village. When the pastor comes calling to remind Ruthie's mother that it is their family's
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turn to supply the church Christmas tree - an annual village tradition - she and Ruthie set out, the night before Christmas Eve, to find the perfect balsam fir, and to make good on their obligation. Sacrificing her own wedding dress, as well as the silk stocking sent to her as a special present, Ruthie's mother makes her a wonderful Christmas surprise, but no gift is greater than the one they both receive, after the church Christmas pageant...

The third Appalachian-themed picture-book I have read from the wonderfully talented Gloria Houston, following upon her My Great-Aunt Arizona and Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story pairs a moving tale of family love and community tradition with lovely artwork from Caldecott medalist Barbara Cooney. I loved all of the little regional details here, and the many bits of Christmas song that Ruthie and her mother sing as they harvest the tree. I particularly appreciated that there was mention of I Wonder As I Wander, an Appalachian folk song that has always been one of my favorites. The illustrations were beautiful, and captured the magic of Ruthie's mountain home, and her nighttime journey. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for Christmas stories and/or tales set in Appalachia.
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LibraryThing member skayw
Set in Appalachia during the First World War, a mother and daughter fulfill their family’s commitment to provide the tree for the Christmas program. It’s the perfect Christmas story of sacrifice and love. As always Barbara Cooney’s illustrations are delightful and enhance the story.
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
A picture book set in the Blue Ridge in North Carolina during WWI, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree is the story of a young girl named Ruthie, whose family's turn it is to provide the community Christmas tree for the village church. She goes into the mountains with her father in the spring to
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mark a balsam tree to be cut down just before Christmas, but when he is called to war over the summer, the family's Christmas and their ability to provide the church with the perfect tree are thrown into jeopardy. This is a nice tale, pleasantly and pleasingly predictable (I won't spoil the particulars, but all turns out well, largely through the efforts of Ruthie's hardworking and resourceful mother), and the illustrations and small details about life in rural Appalachian North Carolina in the early twentieth century make the story special.
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Awards

Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee — 1992)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 1991)
Cardinal Cup (Noteworthy — 1989)

Language

Original publication date

1988

Physical description

32 p.; 9.53 x 0.39 inches

ISBN

080370299X / 9780803702998

Barcode

34747000068177

Lexile

L
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