Among the rows and rows of little trees growing on Brown's Christmas Tree Farm, there is one tree that is not like the others. This little spruce asks the same two questions of every creature he meets: "What is Christmas? What is a Christmas tree?" The little tree hears no response until one day he shelters a white dove from a storm. Through this friendship, the little tree learns the meaning of love, sacrifice and Christmas. Since its fi rst publication in 1990, the book has become a Christmas favourite. The new edition features a sparkly foil cover, redesigned artwork and an extended page count. A must-have for the holidays!
In this real-life Christmas fable, when a Dad decides to let his kids select the family Christmas tree, he gets an unexpected lesson about God's love. In this thoroughly contemporary holiday story, a father lets his children choose the family Christmas tree. To his surprise, the kids pick one that is crooked. As he tries one thing after another to make the tree look right, he rediscovers the power of God's love. He begins to understand Christmas in a new way, particularly when his family decorates their tree and crown it with a star, never even noticing the crookedness he spent hours in the garage struggling to hide. The tender and laugh-out-loud narrative of real-life relationships propels the reader through the most un-generic Christmas story. This upbeat and comedic treasure refreshes the Christmas message of love and faith.
The orphanage's crooked evergreen tree saves the children one stormy Christmas eve. This book was inspired from a song written over a CB radio by two fellow truck drivers. After recording the song there was an overwhelming urge, from different listeners who experienced the same goosebumps, to make this heartwarming story into a children's book. Suggested age range for readers: 4-12
This “meticulously plotted” novel explores “the mysteries of dysfunctional families . . . and adolescents’ imperfect . . . understanding of the world of adults” (Sarah Lyall The New York Times Book Review). “The night we left Ellen on the road, we drove up the mountain in silence.” It is the early 1980s and fifteen-year-old Libby is obsessed with The Field Guide to the Trees of North America, a gift her Irish immigrant father gave her before he died. She finds solace in “The Kingdom,” a stand of red oak and thick mountain laurel near her home in suburban Pennsylvania, where she can escape from her large and unruly family and share menthol cigarettes and lukewarm beers with her best friend. One night, while driving home, Libby’s mother, exhausted and overwhelmed with the fighting in the backseat, pulls over and orders Libby’s little sister Ellen to walk home. What none of this family knows as they drive off leaving a twelve-year-old girl on the side of the road five miles from home with darkness closing in, is what will happen next. A Crooked Tree is a surprising, indelible novel, both a poignant portrayal of an unmoored childhood giving way to adolescence, and a gripping tale about the unexpected reverberations of one rash act. “Beautifully written with tenderness and wisdom.” — Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine “Suspenseful, affecting, and disarmingly evocative of childhood and the not-so-distant era of the 1980s.” —Kirkus Reviews “Filled with pathos, nostalgia, and the best kind of suspense..” — Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River “Completely entrancing.” —Julia Pierpont, New York Times–bestselling author of Among the Ten Thousand Things
This Christmas, families can read this heartfelt, gorgeous holiday story about a lonely little Christmas tree that learns what it means to be loved—with a powerful message to children that they are perfect just as they are. A small, crookled fir tree is left all alone after the others near it in the forest are chosen by families as Christmas to bring home. But when the forest animals gather around the lonely little tree to cheer it up and celebrate the season, it finds the warmth of the holidays in the heart of a cold, snowy forest. This is a charming and classic-feeling holiday picture book with a timely message about celebrating our differences and sticking by our friends. Families will love making this part of their holiday traditions, as a perfect book to talk about kindness, generosity, and the true meaning of Christmas. Critics love this new Christmas classic: "Beautiful to behold"—Kirkus "lyrical language and harmonious art"—Booklist "Children will identify with the little tree’s plight and might find some adventure searching for 'decorations' in the woods for their own trees."—School Library Journal "underscores the message that Christmas is about companionship and togetherness. Zommer’s illustrations capture piney textures and manage to imbue the scraggly arboreal underdog with heart and personality."—The Horn Book "Finely brushed textures are applied with care throughout, conveying a sense of richness."—Publishers Weekly
Do you ever find yourself stuck in the comparison trap? Speaker and author Richella Parham knows what this feels like, often finding herself admiring one person's achievements, someone else's personality, another's skills, yet another's relationships or appearance. While there are no easy answers, Parham helps readers pick up practices that help us walk in the freedom of Christ with confidence in ourselves.
When the cowboy meets the guy from the city, he knows everything will have to change. On the spur of the moment, with his life collapsing around him, Jay Sullivan answers an ad for a business manager with expertise in marketing, on a dude ranch in Montana. With his sister, Ashley, niece, Kirsten, and nephew, Josh, in tow, he moves lock stock and barrels from New York to Montana to start a new life on Crooked Tree Ranch. Foreman and part-owner of the ranch, former-rodeo star Nathaniel 'Nate' Todd has been running the dude ranch, for five years ever since his mentor Marcus Allen became ill. His brothers convince him that he needs to get an expert in to help the business grow. He knows things have to change, but when the new guy turns up, with a troubled family in tow - he just isn't prepared for how much.
"Of what use is one ugly little tree?" Atop a windswept hill, a crooked little tree stands alone . . . until one Christmas Eve, when an old woman labors up the hill with a box of ornaments, and tells the tree that he is special. He is to be the official Christmas tree for all of the homeless people in the city below! Year after year, colored balls and garland adorn the tree at Christmastime, but one year, the woman does not come. Will there be a Christmas for homeless? This story is based on actual events about a funny-looking mimosa tree that sits above a busy freeway in Fort Worth, Texas. A formerly homeless woman decorated the tree, year after year, so that the homeless would have a Christmas tree. When she died, neighbors took over the custom and now decorate it for Easter, Halloween, and other holidays as well. It can be seen on the north side of Interstate 30 near the Oakland exit.
