Coal Country Christmas - Hardcover

Brown, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590780205 ISBN 13: 9781590780206

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 2003

Synopsis

Spending the holidays with those you love best is what Christmas is all about. This is what a little girl learns as she travels with her mother to join her grandmother in an Appalachian coal mining town. Life is not easy in coal country--but in this tightly knit community, traditions are nurtured and passed along year after year, along with an undeniable hope and optimism. And on Christmas night, as the child snuggles into bed with both her mother and grandmother, she knows it's more than blankets that are keeping her warm--it's also memories and the love of her family.

About this title

About the Author:

Elizabeth Ferguson Brown, whose grandfather was a coal miner in Pennsylvania lives in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Harvey Stevenson is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books. He lives in Paris, France.

From Booklist:

PreS-Gr. 2. Harsh yet upbeat, this picture book tells of an annual Christmas family reunion in Pennsylvania coal country. In a simple, poetic text, a child describes her joy at returning to her grandmother's house, as soft-toned acrylic paintings show the family affection and the holiday celebration. But the hard memories are always there: her grandfather's chair is empty because of the "lung sickness that comes to those / who go deep into the mines day after day," and mothers, sisters, and aunts make up most of the family. The mines closed long ago, but their mark is everywhere, and houses and streets tilt as old shafts collapse underground. The combination of cozy togetherness and empty space in the quiet words and close-up pictures makes for a moving seasonal story of a real place. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1590780205
• ISBN 13: 9781590780206
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Stevenson Harvey