Fire and Ice, Sunsets and Snow...

The closest we’ll get to snow here in Southern California is these cute bookish postal stamps paying homage to Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day.

This weekend, there may have been a first snow in some midwestern, northeastern, and southern cities, but here in Southern California we’re still battling wildfires. And our December Santa Ana winds aren’t helping anything.

The sun is shining, the grass is green 
The orange and palm trees sway 
There’s never been such a day In Beverly Hills, L. A. 
But it’s December the 24th 
And I am longing to be up north…. 
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…

I suppose a nice(?) side note for those of us out of range of the dangerous fires is the beautiful sunsets we’ve been witnessing, sadly thanks to the lingering smoke in our skies.

It’s so disquieting on the one hand, to hear that people are being evacuated (including the nuns from St. Barbara Monastery in Santa Paula, CA - which thankfully is safe for the moment), while at the same time we're receiving photos from our daughter in New York of our grandsons happily eating snow and making snow angels!

They are thrilled with their first snow of winter, just like Peter, the little hero in the children's classic The Snowy Day.

The source for the story-line in Ezra Jack Keats' picture book came from his memories of snowy days from his childhood in Brooklyn. Above all, Keats wanted to capture the wonderment of a child’s first snowfall, a feeling universal to all children. “I wanted to convey the joy of being a little boy alive on a certain kind of day—of being for that moment. The air is cold, you touch the snow, aware of the things to which all children are so open.” [Keats, Ezra Jack. Autobiographical excerpts in Lee Bennett Hopkins, ed., Pauses: Autobiographical Reflections of 101 Creators of Children’s Books (New York: HarperCollins, 1995) pp. 132-33.]

Children can happily get lost in a read-aloud book like this!  And with all these fires, it's nice to take a snowy break from the news.  Please keep those in our state who are in close proximity to the fires in your prayers...

EXPERIENCING "SNOW DAYS" WITH BOOKS

Illustration from Holly Claus, The Christmas Princess
by Brittney Ryan, with pictures by Laurel Long and Jeffrey K. Bedick

Shockingly, here in Southern California, we had quite a nippy New Year's, and saw snow not only on the mountains, but at lower elevations on the foothills as well!  

More recently, the weather here has been warm and beautiful, but I've been missing it because I've had to take time off for some "sick days". I've heard many of you in the Midwest and East have had some forced time off for "snow days".

A newbie to Snow Days, my grandson Peter has been thoroughly enjoying the Midwestern snow, just like Peter in The Snowy Day (his favorite story), wearing his red hat and making footprints in the powdery white stuff...he'll have happy memories to bring home to Southern California when he moves back this month with his mom and dad!

Crunch, crunch, crunch.  

His feet sank into the snow.

Ezra Jack Keats' Inspiration:

Just who was the inspiration for Ezra Jack Keats' "Peter"?  This little guy:

"In 1940, Life magazine published a short photo essay focused on a little boy in Liberty County, GA, who was about to undergo a blood test. Keats was struck by the sweet images of the child, and cut the group of photographs out of the magazine. That little boy was the inspiration for Keats' character Peter, the African-American protagonist of The Snowy Day and six books that followed."  (source: npr.org - read more about Keats here).

Baby, It's Cold Outside!
Reading aloud comes in a close second to being out-in-the-snow for my grandson, but it has been a saving grace for my daughter. A few days ago, they experienced -27 degree weather (with the wind chill factor): just too cold to go out!

Here are some exceptional "snowy" books I posted about in past years - great for when there's snow, but it's so cold you have to stay in...and great for Southern Californians who have to experience their SNOWY DAYS (mostly) through books!

A Snowy Book That Will Warm Your Heart:  When It Snows

The Art and Science of Snowflakes and the Determination of a Young Boy From Vermont:  Snowflake Bentley

The Beautiful, Frozen World of Hans Brinker , (from the hand of gifted artist, Laurel Long).

For more recommendations, go here to read my past post, Picture Books in Winter.

EPIPHANY ADORATION

"ADORATION OF THE MAGI," William Morris

Epiphany, or Theophany as it is referred to in the East, falls on this day and marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The term Epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western Catholic and Protestant churches, it commemorates the coming of the Wisemen - who by bringing gifts and visiting the Christ child, "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.

How many of us as children loved the song of "The Little Drummer Boy" (perfect for the Twelfth Day of Christmas!)  He too wanted the "finest gift to bring" to the Newborn King.  I have given this board book version of Ezra Jack Keats' book to several little ones for Christmas, and their Mommies have told me they ask for it to be read (or sung) to them again and again...

You may have heard of Henry Van Dyke's short novel, The Other Wise Man - (if not you can read it HERE on Project Gutenberg) - but did you know there is a children's picture book version?  Henry Van Dyke wrote his enduring classic, The Other Wise Man in 1896.  Pamela Kennedy retells the story for the young reader, making it easy to understand, while retaining the magic of Van Dyke's words. Robert Barrett's rich oil paintings create a tapestry of colour that adds to the mystery of the ancient world.

Another exceptional picture book about the Magi and their gifts is The Third Gift, by Linda Sue Park.  My book review of The Third Gift can be found here.

In my Eastern Orthodox tradition, the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child is commemorated on Christmas Day.  For us, Epiphany commemorates Jesus' baptism and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity.  

The word Epiphany in Greek means "to show forth" and is used interchangeably with the word Theophany, which translates from Greek as "appearance of God".

At the baptism of Christ the Holy Trinity appeared clearly to mankind for the first time -- the Father's voice is heard from Heaven, the Son of God is incarnate and standing physically in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove.

A hymn that will be sung in our church service today is a wonderful reminder of God's presence with us today and everyday: 

Today You appeared to the world, 

and Your light, O Lord, has left its mark upon us 

as in fuller understanding we sing to You: 

“You came, You were made manifest, the unapproachable light."

From Christmas Poem to Favorite Hymn

Christina Rossetti is the author of many Advent and Christmas poems that were posthumously published in her POETIC WORKS, in 1904. Her most famous, A Christmas Carol, became a favorite Christmas hymn entitled In the Bleak Midwinter after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906, with a setting by Gustav Holst (and later by Harold Darke).  

This beloved Christmas carol has been performed by choirs and soloists ever since, including the Robert Shaw Chorale, Chanticleer, Julie Andrews, Sarah Mclachlan, and most recently, James Taylor (who sings my favorite modern rendition).

Below I've posted Rossetti's poem, accompanied by some Christmas picture book covers that illustrate the text beautifully...

"IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER" 

by Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place
sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.