#86
Title: The Twenty-Four Days before Christmas
Author: Madeleine L’Engle
Illustrated
by: Joe De Velasco
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Published: 1984
Date Read: 12/21/16
Pages: 48
Seven year
old Vicky Austin is getting ready to portray the angel in the school Christmas
play. She thinks she’s not pretty and
will forget her lines. The play director
says if her mom and dad will just help her practice she can do it. Of course, mom and dad encourage her and at
each rehearsal she gets better and better as the angel.
As the days draw
nearer to Christmas the family is involved with preparation of the grand
event. Each day they decide what they
will do to decorate. One day they make
Christmas cards, another they go to the forest and cut down a tree and later
they decorate it. Mom is pregnant with
child number four to round out the family of ten year old John, four year old
Suzy, Doctor dad and housewife mom. They
also have two dogs and two cats.
Every day
when John comes back from his morning paper route he informs the family of
whether there is snow in the forecast.
On some days he’s sure it’ll snow, other times he says “no snow”. Vicky is so looking forward to playing
outdoors in the white stuff but also knows that Mom’s due date to deliver the
baby is getting closer and closer and she prays that her mother will not be in
the hospital over Christmas.
A day or so
before Christmas Eve when the play is scheduled a blizzard settles in and
things begin to happen – the play is cancelled, they wonder if dad will make it
home from his office. Yet the kids are
resourceful and do their chores.
This story
is about the Austin family when they were younger. I’m going to have to check out the stories
about the Austin family and re-introduce them to granddaughter who fell asleep
while I read this warm Christmas story to her last night.
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