Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas (Dell Young Yearling)

by Madeleine L'Engle

Paperback, 1987

Status

Check shelf

Call number

J Le

Publication

Yearling (1987), Paperback, 80 pages

Description

Seven-year-old Vicky Austin recounts the events of the twenty-four days before Christmas, as she prepares for her role as an angel in the Christmas Pageant and prays that her mother will not be in the hospital for Christmas having a new baby.

Local notes

1101-93

User reviews

LibraryThing member mandochild

I hadn't bothered to find Madeleine L'Engle's books for young children before, but now that I'm making a real effort to read the series in chronological order I decided to give them a go. Withe such an obviously Christmas title, I decided to wait for Christmas Eve to read this one and I'm glad I

did.

It's wonderful to spend Christmas chasing the ghost of Christmas past, but at the same time it means that all of the traditional elements that make up Christmas are missing. The twenty-four days before Christmas doesn't have a lot too it but it's full of comforting family tradition (not to mention beautiful illustrations) and has provided me, not only with an insight into early Austin family life, but with a lovely link to Christmas.

And this year, Madeleine L'Engle isn't here to celebrate...

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LibraryThing member StephJoan

This is one of my favorite Christmas books. I discovered it a couple of years ago and have read it at Christmas every year since then. In the story the Austin Family does something special every day until Christmas. I start the first day of December and read one of the Austin's days every day. Some

days are only a half sentence long and some days are a couple pages. We are always happy when it is a long day, because it is such a great story.

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LibraryThing member Lake_Oswego_UCC

In the twenty-four days before Christmas the Austin family follows Advent traditions and prepares for a new baby in their own family.

LibraryThing member tjsjohanna

This is a quiet and sweet look at a young family preparing for Christmas. Vicky tells about their advent and the activities they do and how she learns to be the Christmas angel for their Christmas Eve pageant. This story focuses on the purpose of Christmas without ever "saying it out loud" which

makes it an especially lovely Christmas book

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LibraryThing member KimJD

This sweet short story (only 48 pages) with beautiful spot illustrations may hold more appeal for the adults who grew up with Vicky Austin and her family than for most of today's kids, but it will find an audience with middle graders looking for a nostalgic glimpse into one family's Christmas

traditions.

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LibraryThing member foggidawn

Vicky Austin is excited for Christmas, especially since she is playing the angel in the nativity play, but worries that her new baby brother or sister will come early and cause her mother to spend Christmas in the hospital mar her joy over the season.

This is a brief, simple story that will be best

appreciated by fans of books about the Austins. I've always been fonder of Kairos (the Murry family) than Chronos (the Austin family), but any L'Engle is good. The holiday details in this story exude coziness, making it a pleasant diversion for a winter afternoon.

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