How Can We Be Like Little Red Sleigh?
I have always loved books, especially at Christmas. This started at a very young age—one of my most memorable Christmas gifts was, in fact, a book. The book is still a treasure that I set out every holiday season, which makes sense because it’s titled, Treasury of Christmas Tales. This book was the only item I asked Santa for in 1995. You can be reminded of the year and who gifted it as soon as you open the enchanting gold-edged pages. In my extra-large, child-style handwriting, I wrote, FROM: SANTA TO: KATIE. That book has brought me so much joy over the years, especially now as I read through it with my little ones. I hope to pass on my obsession with books and reading to my children.
Books are always gifted for the holidays or special occasions in our house. This year we added Little Red Sleigh to our holiday collection. I’ve seen the beautifully, yet simply illustrated, cover for a couple of years now and thankfully “Elf Snowflake” gifted it recently. It’s a sweet story about a little sleigh who wants to help Santa in the North Pole. Along her journey, she gains solid advice from the train who says, “Be patient, little sleigh. Life builds up one car at a time.” And from the truck delivering Christmas trees who tells her, “…Life seems to build up one tree at a time.” But the most profound and touching part for me sparkled through the lines later in the story enclosed in the letter to the sleigh from Santa. He tells the sleigh that she delivered joy to many kids… “You made each of those children very happy and you did it by being yourself…” This line resonated with me because the night before, I received a message from someone asking me to schedule a reading at their office. This person had previously attended one of my school visits with her children. She went on to say that she and her husband even used the positive affirmations I say with the kiddos at the end of each Storytime to help their child with potty training. How amazing is that? She ended the message by thanking me for spreading confidence and joy to the kids I read to. I got a little choked up as I read the message to my husband. Sometimes you don’t realize the positive impact you can have on someone. My husband listened to me read the message and said, “See? That’s what this is about. You’re making a difference.”
So, as I move further into this holiday season and look towards goals and what is to come in 2024—I can’t help but compare myself to the Little Red Sleigh and hope to have the ability to continue to bring children joy by being myself and doing what I love.
What holiday books bring back fond childhood memories? Do you add to your holiday book collection each year?
Have a wonderful weekend and as always, happy reading!