Debby Detering Wordcraft

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Mary’s First Christmas

12.22.2018 by Debby Detering // Leave a Comment

If Mary told five-year-old Jesus the story of his birth, it might have been like this:

“It’s a true story…It’s the story of how you were born…And the reason why I want to tell it to you is love…

As Mary cleanses a wound on her child’s forehead, from rocks some older boys had thrown, she begins by recounting the visit of the angel who foretold her pregnancy, and her visit to her cousin Elizabeth . The author’s translation of Mary’s song, the Magnificat, is well suited for reading, or chanting, to children:

I sing the greatness of my God

Who chose to raise his lowly maid

While putting down the rich and proud:

Oh, holy is his name!

The Lord remembers Israel;

His mercy and his love remain;

As with our fathers it was well,

With us be it the same.

As the book ends, “Joseph, the carpenter, strong and true” is teaching his son to use hammer and nails.

Mary watches…but Mary isn’t the only one.

The angels are watching.

And God the Father in heaven is leaning low to see.

And all the world is waiting; the shepherds and you and me.

Mary’s First Christmas
Mary’s First Christmas, by Walter Langerin, Jr.
Timothy Ladwig, illustrator.

My Christmas book wish list includes this author and illustrator, and some others. (Are my children following me?) How I’d love to share these books with all of our grandchildren, one by one!

  • Mary’s First Christmas Wangerin and Ladwig
  • Peter’s First Easter, Wangerin and Ladwig
  • Psalm Twenty-Three, illustrated by Ladwig
  • Morning has Broken, Eleanor Farjeon and Ladwig
  • The Lord’s Prayer, illustrated by Ladwig
  • When Daddy Prays, Nikki Grimes and Ladwig
  • He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator.

Categories // Reading Tags // Christmas

Dusk

08.15.2016 by Debby Detering // Leave a Comment

Boy and Grandpa walk together in the winter.

Dusk (1)Lights come on in the city.

The homes they pass are decorated with Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, & Christmas lights.

 

Dusk (2)

A beautiful book for the holiday season.

Categories // Reading Tags // Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Primary grades

Christmas Books

12.03.2015 by Debby Detering // Leave a Comment

In childhood I could count on two items under the Christmas tree:  One would be “from Santa Claus,” the other a book.

The one “from Santa Claus” was a toy.  I still have “Pantaloons,” a fuzzy but now wobbly grey elephant—I think I named him from a story my parents had read to me which included the word pantaloons, but I have no idea now what that story might have been.  During the Second World War, when toys were hard to come by, a home-made doll house gave me an unforgettably special Christmas.

The other dependable gift was a book.  The first I remember, given before I could read, I called  “The Big Book” for its size.  It was an anthology of fairy tales, poetry, and legends designated as suitable for grades 1 through 6; it was my most requested “read to me” book, and a favorite once I could read it myself. 

One year Cousin Mabel gave me a collection of English poetry signed by its editor.  Another year, the grandmother whose limited income meant her gifts were usually a dollar (In those days I much appreciated a whole dollar to spend as I wished.) gave me the collected poetry of Rudyard Kipling—probably with my parent’s financial assistance.  Cousin Mabel had introduced me to Kipling and that book has been well worn over the years. 

The year I was 16, my father had taken me to hear Robert Frost read his poetry and then, because of Mr. Frost’s association with my father’s Alma Mater, I found an autographed book of his poetry under our tree.

Obviously, I enjoyed poetry.   The books included fairy tales, biographies, and classic children’s literature, but which were Christmas gifts and which birthday gifts or other acquisitions, I don’t remember.   

Now I have passed on some of those vintage books to three more generations with the hope that they will love printed words, appreciate the history, the moods, the alternate worlds, the heroic possibilities, and the clearly imagined images as I do.  Many of those books I can’t yet turn over to others because they are like family I can’t leave behind.

Categories // About Debby, Reading Tags // Christmas

Debby’s fiction explores family relationships with mingled conflict and caring and reflects her experience in emergency foster care, often for teenagers abandoned in one way or another.

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