The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay

Title: The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay
Author: Bruce Lindsay
Major Themes: Christmas, Great Depression
Synopsis: Richard was afraid that Christmas would not come this year because the Great Depression was so bad, but his mother helped him figure out how to bring Christmas.

I received a review copy of The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay last week, and the next decision I had to make was when to read it to the children. I like to read review books to all four of my school children at once, to see the reactions of a range of ages. I decided to read it to them as our history/geography/science time for that day—and was glad to see that it fit into the history category, since it is a true story from 1933, during the Great Depression!

Richard was beginning to wonder if Christmas would come to their home this year. Probably not, he figured, since no one had much money anymore. Then, he saw a truck come and start handing out turkeys to a long line of men. When he asked his mother to get one for them, she told him they didn’t need it—they could eat the fat red rooster out in the coop! Well, that was one problem solved, but what about gifts? Mother suggested he make a list of everyone he loved and see what he could do for them.

Richard remembered his collection of coins from doing odd jobs around the neighborhood. He found bookmarks for his teacher and uncles, hair clips for his big sisters, crayons for his little sister, and other little things for the other people he loved. But what about Mother, the one he loved the most?

The Christmas List of Richard Lindsay is a beautiful book. The story is beautiful, and so are the illustrations. They glow! This book would be a treasured gift for any child and a beautiful addition to any collection of picture books. The story is worth reading over and over.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

No warnings!

——————
Related posts:

Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building Cimarron Girl The Pullman Porter Pop’s Bridge