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Rocking Horse Christmas
By Mary Pope Osborne
The first time I saw Rocking Horse Christmas was at a book fair I was holding in my school library. The beautiful cover was outstanding. With its old-fashioned rocking horse and Santa and his elves busy at work, the cover gave a glimpse of the wonderful paintings inside – Ned Bittinger is the artist! The author’s name also caught my eye – Mary Pope Osborne is best known for other impressive children’s books including the highly popular Magic Tree House series for young novel readers. On closer examination, she met, even surpassed my expectations.
My first impressions were soon reinforced…a young family came to the book fair, excited and intent on some serious shopping. Eventually the dad sought out my rocking chair off to the side where he was in short order joined by his youngest daughter for a story. I offered them a copy of Rocking Horse Christmas to preview for the library. When the mom and older daughter had settled on their purchases, all four consulted again and approached my desk to pay. As I totalled everything, the dad passed me Rocking Horse Christmas to add in. I assured him that he wasn’t obligated to buy the book - He smiled and quietly responded “Oh yes, we want this book!” His eyes were a bit wet.
Indeed, inspired by the rediscovery of a favorite childhood doll in her mother’s attic, the author has created a moving story of this toy and “his boy”, a memorable story that will resonate with readers of all ages, a story destined to become a classic Christmas story.
ISBN:9780590929554