{25 Days of Holiday Book Reviews}: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

 Today's guest poster is my friend and coworker, Jana.  Jana is a reading specialist and Reading Recovery Teacher Leader at my school.  We started teaching at ALES at the same time (7 years ago!) and have been friends every since (though, because its a small town, our paths have crossed before---she may or may not have been a sub in my class, her husband was one of the counsellors at a camp I went to, she knows my mom...all sorts of stuff!)  She's also mom to 2 great little readers, a boy in 1st grade and a girl in 5th.  Today, Jana is writing about Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.

 What does one do when the tree is just too big for the room?  The answer for Mr. Willowby is to cut off the top of the tree and get rid of it.  What happens to the top of the tree as it moves from one person/animal to another is found out in the story Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry.   The story was written in 1963.  However, I did not hear of it until my 2^nd year of teaching in a small country school in rural Virginia.  The 2^nd grade class used this sweet story that in the end comes full circle, as their Christmas play.  Several years later, my aunt and uncle gave it to my little girl for Christmas.  With its rhyming verse and message of seeing the joy in Christmas surprises, it has become a favorite in our house each Christmas. 

Thank you, Jana!