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*The Smallest Gift of Christmas* by Peter H. Reynolds
 
Also written and/or illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds:

Free to Be...You and Me (The 35th Anniversary Edition)

Judy Moody & Stink: The Holly Joliday
The Smallest Gift of Christmas
by Peter H. Reynolds
Ages 3+ 40 pages Candlewick September 2013 Hardcover    

Here’s a cautionary holiday tale about a little boy named Roland who learns an important lesson about the size of the box a gift comes in.

On Christmas morning, Roland races downstairs only to find a small wrapped box under the tree.
It was the smallest gift he had ever seen. Had he waited the whole year for this tiny gift? Roland closed his eyes and hoped and wished as hard as he could for a BIGGER gift.
This seems to work, but the little boy is never happy with the size of the “new” gift, and the process continues until he conjures a gift bigger than his house.

Now the story gets a little bizarre: when he opens the really big box, Roland discovers a real rocket ship. Determined to search the universe for an even bigger gift, Roland suddenly realizes that he is moving out into space and that his home planet, as it recedes, is getting smaller and smaller.
Roland never thought he’d want something so small so badly.
Now what’s the greedy little boy going to do? I’ll let you read this amusing picture book to discover how he reverses this situation and, in the process, learns an important lesson.

At a time of the year when it is easy to get caught up in buying things and measuring how much we are loved or appreciated by the number or size of the presents we receive, this little book reminds us that some of the best gifts come in very small boxes!
 


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  Bob Walch/2013 for curled up with a good kid's book  






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