Purpose of this Blog...

You may have noticed that not all books are equal in capturing children's imaginations and in cultivating those innocent, tender souls. My goal is to help you find the ones that do!
(Painting by Mary Cassatt: "Mrs Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren" -1888)




Thursday, December 3, 2015

How the New York City Public Library Landed a Spot in Macy's Christmas Windows...

We spent our Thanksgiving in New York, visiting my daughter, son-in-law, and two sweet grandsons.  Of course, we made time to meander the city, checking out this year's Christmas windows...


Macy's, at Herald Square, has been displaying a "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" series of windows the past few years that not only celebrates Christmas, but the New York Public Library! 


The story that unfolds in the sequence of windows is that Virginia goes to the library, where an enthusiastic librarian helps her learn all about the different traditions of Santa Claus from different cultures.

And though the library doesn't directly tell 8-year-old Virginia whether Santa is real, it is indirectly responsible for the answer she finally gets; because she sees The Sun newspaper while at the library and is inspired to write to the editor and ask him, "...is there a Santa Claus?"



And we all know what he replied, back in 1897:
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.

One thing I really love about New York City is how it fully embraces Christmas, and doesn't shy away from the message of Christmas!  We heard beautiful Christmas carols everywhere we went, lingered as we gazed up at the angels in the tree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  and made a quick stop to see the huge Advent wreath at St. Patrick's Cathedral.




I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.  My daughter and my grandson made this beautiful little banner out of book pages to welcome us!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward in anticipation to our Lord's coming!



2 comments:

  1. Oh, what fun it must've been to by with your grandsons and family! ♥ That's a nice banner they made, I'm always reluctant to use book pages... I remember when I was a child, I'd love seeing the moving characters or trains in window displays.

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    1. Martha - I know what you mean about using book pages, but my daughter goes on the hunt for old, sometimes damaged books! And yes - the windows are just magical! :)

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