The Giving Season

As you prepare your budget for this year's Christmas season, you'll want to be sure to include the purchase of a new book.

Yes, just in time for the holiday season, Frank McCourt's publisher will get their wish. Apparently, Scribner and Simon & Schuster have been aching for a Christmas book from Mr. McCourt, ever since Angela's Ashes took the literary world by storm. This latest venture will continue with the same theme, and feature the relationship between Angela and a statue of the Baby Jesus that was housed at St. Joseph's in Limerick.

To be presented in two formats, one for adults and one for children, Scribner is hoping to reach a wide audience and end up with a book that has the same appeal as Dylan Thomas' classic, A Child's Christmas In Wales. With the kiddies home from school over a long break, it will help to have a fourth book on hand, since Dickens, Dr. Seuss and Thomas have all published such short pieces to commemorate the season.

The plot of McCourt's newest memoir-style book is in line with his previous works. He relates a story that his mother told him about her past, about her own life in Limerick as a six-year-old child and her fascination with the Nativity scene at St. Joseph's. They're elaborate affairs, those old-time ones, with big colorful statues, and the fact that they are only seen once a year makes them more memorable. The days of Advent crawl by, the crib remains empty as we await the joyful coming of the Lord, and then, lo and behold, come Christmas morning and the little Baby Jesus is right there, lying in the manger. Magical for a child, rich or poor.

Simon and Schuster will offer the children's version as an illustrated story, while Scribner will put together a 'gift book edition' for adults. This has all the makings of a Christmas gift that will fly out of the bookstores, gift-wrapped and ready to present to the child in your life or the hostess who puts on a big feed for friends and neighbors. Besides, books make great gifts. One size fits all, they last forever, and you can share them with others. Wouldn't do that with a scarf and mittens, now, would you?