December Books, Day Three: Christmas Magic

Diane Goode's Christmas Magic: Poems and Carols is a Random House Pictureback published in 1992.

Yes, it has "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and "Long, Long Ago" and "Oh, Christmas Tree."  There are verses by Longfellow and Aileen Field.

But it also has poems by Dee Lillegard, Langston Hughes, and Bobbi Katz.  This is a short, eclectic collection, good for reading by and with young children who aren't yet ready for some of the longer Christmas poems.  And the illustrations are cheerfully multi-ethnic--unusual for older Christmas picture books, if you think about it.

This is the first poem in the book: "December," by John Updike, from his Child's Calendar.

December

First snow! The flakes,
So few, so light,
Remake the world
In solid white.

All bundled up,
We feel as if
We were fat penguins,
Warm and stiff.

The toy-packed shops
Half split their sides,
And Mother brings home
Things she hides.

Old carols peal.
The dusk is dense.
There is a mood
Of sweet suspense.

The shepherds wait,
The kings, the tree--
All wait for something
Yet to be,

Some miracle.
And then it's here,
Wrapped up in hope--
Another year!