cover image The Spirit of Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas

Nancy Tillman, . . Feiwel and Friends, $16.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-312-54965-7

As the adult speaker of the story nods off in a comfy red chair, the Spirit of Christmas appears, ready to get the narrator in the holiday spirit. What follows is a buoyant, imagistic tribute to the season, as the Spirit lists joys both concrete (“A toy soldier band dressed in matching red sashes!”) and intangible, before offering the reminder: “Because it took nothing but love to begin it,/ it's not really Christmas if love isn't in it.” Tillman's ethereal illustrations (a frozen tree, dotted with peppermints; the cast of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” beside a river) are surreal but captivating. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)