Children's Christmas Picture Book Countdown

The next book in our countdown of favorite Children's Christmas Picture Books is called The Little Fir Tree written by the author of Goodnight Moon,

Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Jim Lamarche.

There are many versions of this well-loved Christmas story, but I love this version because of its delicate and glowing paintings by award-winning artist Jim LaMarche. 

You are going to be part of

a great celebration.

The Little Fir Tree is a character in this book, that longs to be part of something. The Little Fir Tree finds it's connection with a little boy and his family.  Through beautiful pictures and words, see how both the tree and the little boy grow and heal.

  More about Margaret Wise Brown

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well. Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading. She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them. She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper. Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.  

text ©1954 by Roberta Rauch and Bruce Bliven, Jr. Text copyright renewed 1982 by Roberta Brown Rauch. Illustrations ©2005 by Jim LaMarche.