Angelina's Christmas

Angelina's Christmas

Author: Katharine Holabird

Illustrator: Helen Craig

Genre: Fantasy (Animal)

Major Awards: None 

Grade Level: Pre-K-4

Summary: Angeline, on her way home from preparing for her school Christmas show, Angelina noticed all the houses lit up and decorated for the holiday season, except for one man (mouse), Mr. Bell. Once she was home, Mrs. Mouseling, Angelina's mother, told Angelina that Mr. Bell was too old to work and he lived alone. Angelina decided to take on the job of making sure he got to be a part of all of the Christmas festivities. She took him a basket of cookies, mince pies, and fruit as well as a Christmas tree that her father helped her pick out. Angelina's brother, Henry, was very sad because he wanted to see Santa, but when they got to Mr. Bell's, Mr. Bell himself ran upstairs when he saw Henry and put on his Santa costume, claiming that he filled in for Santa at a party once. He was very thankful for the children's kindness and even went to Angelina's school program. He was asked back each year and was "never lonely at Christmas again..."

Evaluation: I really enjoyed this book and the beautiful illustrations! I would definitely want this in my class, especially around the holiday season because it is a great way to show children that the holidays provide a lot of opportunities to spread kindness.

This book can be read aloud when they are in the lower grades and it would make a great independent reading book for upper grades. The story is interesting and it doesn't look like a "baby book" so it can work for a large range of ages and reading levels.

I think I would incorporate this book in my class during the holiday season as a way to promote kindness in the classroom. When I was a child, one of our Christmas traditions was putting a piece of hay into the wooden manger if we were good so it would keep Jesus warm. I would do something similar, such as putting "snowflakes" (cotton balls) in a jar or adding a link to a paper chain when students are kind to each other.