Description: In her first picture book, Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo reunites with acclaimed artist Bagram Ibatoulline, illustrator of "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane," to offer readers a timeless holiday story of compassion and joy.

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Children's Literature Review: This beautiful collaboration by a wordsmith and an accomplished artist lives up to every expectation. Simple and direct, the text is uncomplicated but speaks volumes about the responsibilities of people to open their hearts and doors to those less fortunate. Set in an unnamed city, the story appears to occur during WWII. There is a picture of a naval officer sitting on a shelf in the living room of the apartment shared by a mother and her daughter, Frances. The old-fashioned iron and ironing board shown in the illustrations, as well as the clothes and cars reinforce the impression of the 1940s. In this story, Frances sees an organ grinder and his little monkey on a nearby corner and questions her mother about them. Busily preparing Frances' angel costume for the Christmas pageant, her mother dismisses the questions without really thinking about the plight of the aging man and his little companion. Warmly dressed and wearing boots in the cold snow, Frances and her mother pass the man an...

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