One young girl posted on Facebook that she and her brother had sorted through the gifts under their Christmas tree and there were “only thirteen presents each.” “Only” does not seem an appropriate adjective for thirteen gifts! I admit that I usually give several gifts to each of my family members, but they have the grace to seem both surprised and grateful for the many packages under our tree.
As a child, I always received a book for Christmas, and for my birthday. Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land and the other Raggedy Ann and Andy books were treasures, as were the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. I read them over and over, and I kept them. They now reside on a special shelf, alongside books that are autographed by author friends. Not many gifts are still cherished more than sixty years after they were unwrapped.
When one friend told me there are some Peg Kehret books under her family’s tree this year, it made me hope that some day, years from now, her children will look back and remember the pleasure they got from reading.