Christmas Day Books

This beautiful creation of poet philosopher, Sri Satpal Goyal, and inspired artist, Minu Shukla, is a unique piece. The synthesis of literature, poetry and paintings, is done so well that we almost feel and hear the roar of the gigantic waves of the furious ocean.

The painting of the staring, void eyes of a lonely girl on the front cover tells a thousand tales of agony and grief, yet there is hope as Satpal Goyal heals our wounds saying:

"Our home is gone
Our joy still intact
only a few bricks left
sacred as shrine..."

and many more.

I am one of the illustraters. I loved doing the Illustrations to this book because I know the story is true,and I know all the people in the story.My family and I go to the Jemez mountains often to go camping and fishing and I allso went up with Dorothy and the kids and we went mountain climbing. This book was good because every one wishes they could meet Santa. I realy enjoyed working with dorothy and my class mates on this book.

I bought this book two weeks before Christmas because I thought
it would be relaxing to look at the color photos of all the beautiful projects that I would never have time to make. I spent several hours relaxing with this book and read many of the directions for holiday projects that someone less exhausted than myself could have made one or two of before the holidays.
There was even a section on food projects such as Sand-Painting Brownies and Hot Chocolate Mix that looked delicious as well as speedy to do. And I would have done it if I had not found a new all time low in holiday cooking. (I ordered cookie dough from an Italian restuarant while I ate chicken marsala, and the nice chef delivered it to my husband at work and all I had to do was tie on an apron and slice and bake.)
Anyway, I fell so in love with many of the projects in this book that if I only made one a month for this coming year--I'd have all my gifts done for next year. My favorites are: Partridge Pincushion.(To die for-with real feathers--and I know where there is a taxidermy shop over the state line.),birdhouse welcome home banner,wreath pillow, French hen tea cosy,flying geese placemats,
French hen address book, calling bird Christmas cards, six geese a laying quilt,goose wall quilt,seven swans a swimming vest, Christmas cactus and currants pillow (this is stunning and if I ever make it, no one else is getting it.),lord of the manor apron and chef's hat( something a man in the kitchen would really like to get.), wreath door banner (this is really nice--not at all cutesy--but three wreaths from pieced triangles with red bows and bells and the squares in the middle are naturals for custom embroidery--maybe your dog or cat's face?) twelfth hour quilt, and much, much more including menus and recipes for Christmas dinner and Christmas brunch.
This is my kind of Christmas book. Lovely original projects that would be fine to make any year. Lots of inspiration here to start
early and surprise lucky friends and family with stunning gifts.

This book really gets you into the spirit of the holidays. Not to mention giving you alot of laughs along the way. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

This book is a treasure trove of ideas for the holidays, including Christmas poems, stories, recipes, and crafts. The craft section includes how to make photo frames from Christmas cookie cutters, potpourri bag tree ornaments, table centerpieces and "Jesus Trees". Recipes include both American and International Christmas favorites such as pfeffernusen, German plachinda, lebkuchen, authentic English wassail, mincemeat cookies, sweet potato casserole, banana bread, plum pudding and Christmas fruit salad. This book also offers ideas for how to create holiday traditions in your own family. Highly recommended.

This book successfully recaptures images of the original pilgrims of Plymouth colony celebrating the first Thanksgiving from the first crops the first year they landed in 1620. They celebrated with the Wampanoags Indians. The book mostly consists of these pictures with about a paragraph a page. My family has celebrated thanksgiving every year since I was a baby. In the 1800s, the 5th president Abe Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday to be held on the fourth Thursday in November. Gather around the turkey and pile on all the fixings.

I've had this for several years, and finally after a few false starts we actually completed this "calendar" this year. The kids love getting to place the reusable vinyl stikers on the sturdy backround. The imagery and symbolism is rich, and accompianied by references to bible verses. It encouraged us to keep celebrating the whole Easter season, which isn't practiced often enough.

I wanted to teach the German tradition of St. Nicklaus Abend to my daughter's 1st grade class and used this book. It may not give the historical account of St. Nicklaus, but it tells of how 2 children make a wish on St. Nicklaus eve and it is heard by St. Nicklaus. The author tells the story so that young children can understand that there is more to just giving a gift. The illustrations are beautiful and were admired by the whole class. I also read the book to my 3 year-old daughter's pre-school class and they marvelled at the pictures. An excellent book to add to a child's library.

This is a wonderful book that will bring back holiday memories for people of all backgrounds. As soon as I started reading this book I was taken back to my childhood where I can remember seeing the old fashioned decorations the author reminisces about hanging all around my house and also in my classrooms. The cardboard cutouts were simple but as soon as you see them you will remember a time when life was simple as the decorations seemed to be. I also come from an Italian background and can relate to the author's stories of large family gatherings filled with laughter, food and love. But anyone who reads this book will reminisce about their own holiday memories and traditions. This book is great to own or give as a gift.

Holly Days Café is a warm hearted Christmas story in the spirit of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. With the theme of redemption through love and understanding, this book should be read by all. The characters are well defined, and elicit the feelings of empathy and concern that make the book hard to put down. After reading this book I was filled with those warm and fuzzy feelings we hope for in a good story. Suemary W. Vance, M.D.