Desert December

This book is a South African children's book that my mom brought back from there when she visited a family friend. It tells the story of a little boy and his amazing adventure when he travels many miles to give his mother a present. The author uses great word descriptions to weave a lovely story of this boys family and life in South Africa. It is interesting also how it feels different from the American Stories I have been reading. It reads a little differently, although it is in English, and some of the word descriptions were different from anything I've heard before. For example, the author uses the phrase hosanna blue to describe the nights sky on Christmas Eve. I've never heard this term used to describe a color, but when I looked it up, it works. Hosanna means an expression of adoration, praise or joy.

It was also interesting how much the story paralleled the Christmas story. I didn't notice this until I looked it over a second time, but the ending has an image of a baby in swaddling clothes surrounded by two parents and the little girls brother. There is also a star shining overhead and this star helped the boy find his mother and her new baby, similar to the three wise men who followed the star to baby Jesus. I think this would be a great book to read to my class around Christmas time since it brings in elements of other cultures while bringing in elements of our own.