The Gift of Prose> Cathie Pelletier’s latest tale about a little girl, a doll and a lesson on the meaning of Christmas

THE CHRISTMAS NOTE by Skeeter Davis and Cathie Pelletier, illustrated by Carl E. Hileman, Nashville Books, 39 pages hardcover, $19.95.

The story of the little girl who wanted a doll for Christmas, but got a note from Santa instead, just would not go away. It kept tugging at the hem of Cathie Pelletier’s mind until she did what she always does with a story — she wrote it down.

But just penning the tale was not enough for the author, best known in her native state as the chronicler of life in and around her hometown of Allagash. She decided to publish the story, and founded her own company to make sure the book was not neglected or misrepresented by a large, New York-based publishing firm.

Pelletier first heard Grand Ole Opry star Skeeter Davis’ story last year when she was compiling a book of country music performers’ Christmas memories. When Davis was 10 years old, the eldest of six children, she asked for a doll for Christmas. She had been so good all year and worked so hard to help her family on their tobacco farm in Dry Ridge, Ky., that she was positive Santa would bring her doll.

But on that snowy Christmas morning in the early 1940s, she awoke to find a note hanging on the Christmas tree that said, “I am so sorry, but I ran out of dolls before I got to Dry Ridge. Santa knows so many little girls from all over the world who wanted dolls, too. And the elves can only make so many. I hope you will understand. Love, Santa.”

At first, the young Davis did not understand, and sobbed in the barn, “certain that I was the only girl in the world who didn’t get a doll from Santa Claus.” Then, as the animals gathered around the crying child, she realized that “this day wasn’t just about gifts. It was meant to celebrate the birth of a special person.”

Pelletier decided the story would work best as a children’s picture book, and originally planned to publish it next Christmas. However, she rushed the book, titled “The Christmas Note,” into production when Davis’ battle with cancer resumed earlier this year.

“The message of the book for me is faith and hope,” said Davis from her Nahsville home. “I want each child to know that they are special. … It gets right back to God for me, and reminding children that they are important and special to God. In the barn, after my tears, I learned that God really was there with me, and I realized that love is what Christmas is really about.”

In spite of her health, Davis and Pelletier have been promoting the book heavily in and around Nashville. The first press run of 10,000 is selling well according to Pelletier, and because of Davis’ fans and colleagues around the globe it is getting attention in some unexpected places.

“I sent the book to Margo O’Donnell, a singer friend of mine in Ireland,” said Davis. “She started reading the book on the radio there and now calls are coming from there asking for the book.”

O’Donnell also sent her a doll dressed in traditional Irish costume.

The warm response to the book has been no surprise to Pelletier. A country music fan since childhood, as well as a songwriter, she knows firsthand that “country music stories are great stuff.” So great that last year she collected and “packaged” a collection of country music stars’ Christmas memories in the book, “Country Music Christmas,” published by Crown.

She was very disappointed, however, at how it was marketed by the New York-based firm. She also felt that by starting her own firm, she would be able to reach a ready market — country music fans and their children. Eventually Pelletier would like to combine books with CDs for young people.

“Country fans have kids too,” she said from her Nashville home. “I want to target that audience. There are no country music albums for children. … If their parents are divorcing, if someone they love is dying, they should be able to turn to country music and hear those themes presented with the all the talent that Nashville has to offer.”

Pelletier’s company, Nashville Books, has plans to publish 12 books over the next five years, including “Country Music Ghost Stories” in June, “A Country Music Angel” and accompanying CD next Christmas, a second volume of “A Country Music Christmas,” a trivia book, and a couple of compilations on the industry’s history.

The author’s foray into publishing was made possible not by her books based in Maine, but by the $1 million advance she received for the second book she has written under the pseudonym K.C. McKinnon. She also is making Davis and illustrator Carl E. Hileman “partners” in the publication of “The Christmas Note,” offering them royalties of 25 and 15 percent respectively. The industry average is usually 4 percent to 6 percent, according to Pelletier.

Today, Davis’ large collection of dolls is spread throughout her home. New ones arrive almost every day as the book gains fans. Although the book mentions the dolls, it does not answer the question, “Did the little girl ever get her doll?”

“Yes,” answers Davis firmly. “I got a doll the next year. As an adult, I learned that the reason I had not gotten it that Christmas was because the tobacco was not sold before Christmas that year.

“Dolls started coming to me when I started singing on television, even though I had not told the story. That’s just how the Holy Spirit works, I guess. … Over the years, people have brought me dolls the way they’ve brought me stray animals. I’ve had some that were retrieved from the trash. They were pretty pitiful-looking. From the saddest to the most expensive, I have them all.”