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Leet's Christmas by Elithe Hamilton Kirkland illustrated by Toni Thomas |
Well-known author of Love Is a Wild Assault and The Divine Average, Elithe Hamilton Kirkland reveals her childhood memories of Christmas. Here are the magical holiday recollections of a five-year-old girl, wide-eyed in the presence of:
Grandmother's bountiful kitchen—"Around [the turkey] were . . . an enormous spiral of whipped potatoes with butter melting into rivulets . . . cornbread dressing and giblet gravy; a deep platter of crusted cabbage . . . ; thick flaky biscuits . . . set close beside a block of yellow butter . . . gleaming jellies, large spiced peach pickles, small brandied peaches. . . . Jeff Davis chess pie, chocolate meringue pie, pumpkin pie, spice cake, pound cake, layered cakes (chocolate and fresh coconut) dark fruitcakes with whipped cream."
Her bachelor uncle's bottle of Four Roses for the egg nog—"When he arrived home . . . Leet raced out to open the yard gate, for he would be bringing in packages. . . . in one hand a loaded basket and in the other the bottle of Four Roses . . . [with] the Four Red Roses shining forth in their gold and green embellishment."
Grandfather's Sacred Harp songbook—"He was sounding his do-re-mes, tuning up for a practice session with his . . . song book. He had showed it to her . . . explaining how the shape of each note on the page represented a tone which he called do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do."
Originally printed primarily as a Christmas gift for family and friends, this lesser known story will delight Kirkland's many fans, as well as those who love nostalgic Christmas tales.
"What a joy to have your wonderful books. You are one of my heroes!"—Ann W. Richards, former Governor of Texas, in a personal letter to Kirkland
During her lifetime ELITHE HAMILTON KIRKLAND, who died in 1992, worked as an author, journalist, and multi-media pioneer, including writing radio scripts for J. Frank Dobie and for "The Texas School of the Air." Toni Thomas studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the University of Illinois. She resides in Denton.
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Leet's Christmas ISBN 1-57441-014-8 $16.95
LC 96-16221. 6x9. 64 pp. Illus. Publication Date: August 1996. |
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