Somehow Louise brought not one but two illustrated versions of O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi” home from the library a few weeks ago. I’ll admit I put her off for several days about reading one of them; it takes me quite a while after Christmas to even think about reading yet another Christmas story (like usually the next Christmas!) Plus, I knew it to be a somewhat lengthy story, and our read-aloud time is precious so I guard it carefully. I finally gave in to her one day last week, and I was surprised by quite a few things.
If all of that isn’t enough, this version itself is gorgeous. Lisbeth Zwerger‘s illustrations, one facing each page of text, are dramatic and evocative of the strong emotion in the story. Della’s beautiful hair swirls and floats about her. Jim is blonde and young-looking in this story, which upset my preconceived ideas about him, but his demeanor is spot-on. Add this one to your TBR list for Christmas 2012, or better yet, read it now and then, too. I give this version of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” a Highly Recommended.
Have you ever put off reading a certain book to your children? Why?
(Oh, and if you’re looking for inspiration for the holiday that’s actually coming up next week, check out this post.)
I just love that version of the Gift of the Magi, and still recall the first time I read it!
I only posted about our French reading aloud, but this week we also finished Kon Tiki. I read to 4 of my kids, aged 9-16, so we vary the content a lot! LOL
That’s the one we read! It is just as fabulous as you say. I did have to stop and explain a few words to the children, but it did have the same effect on my children (and myself) as well. I agree a must read – Christmas time or any time.
Just wanted to say hi! It’s my first time here and naturally I screwed up my link and only got my first name not my blog name in! This is a really fun idea though. Love your blog.
This book sounds lovely! And the timing is great – we just watched a documentary on Jesus’ Times yesterday and the Magi was of course mentioned. Praying that my library has this gem!
Well, I WAS kind of surprised to see this pop up as a Read Aloud Thursday post! =D
I try to save my Christmas reads for Christmas also but I think it’s neat you went ahead and read it with her. (I know! The vocabulary words in this book ARE amazing!)
Mostly I’m putting off reading particular books now due to age.
I will have to look for this version–thanks for the recommendation!
Just this morning, Felix said to me, “Mom, it’s okay to read Christmas books even when it’s not Christmas.” I think he’s disappointed that I put away our box of Christmas books. I think I’ll pull one or two of his favorites out and surprise him with them tonight. Thank you for your beautiful post about this beautiful story. I’m inspired to find it (for this coming Christmas… or sooner. 😉 )
I’ll have to look for this.
I put off Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass because they are so not me! Now we have finished them and although I don’t have that feeling of “Why did I wait?”, I do have the great satisfaction of reading a book out of my normal genre and finding out is wasn’t that bad.
This looks fabulous! I love the O. Henry story but oddly, I’ve never thought of it as being only for Christmas.
Interesting that you asked the question about putting off books. I’ve been putting off reading the Susan Cooper Dark is Rising series to my son because I wanted him to read it on his own, to sort of fall in love with it like I did. I realized recently that there are so many other books that he is discovering and falling in love with on his own and that it would be really nice to share this series with him. We just started it together this week.
I LOVE your blog but can’t seem to copy the button. I’m visiting from Kindergarten for Teachers and Parents.