Brimming with lessons and legends (and at least two little dogs), a selection of new volumes is … worth a peek

Coming in the darkest days of winter, sending twinkling lights and warmth into the cold, the winter holidays carry a quality of magic – miracles if you wish – into our lives. Maine authors and illustrators contribute to this magic with books that range from the deeply affecting to the wildly zany.

This year, two reissued books do more than capture the spirit of magical grace, they embody it. Candlewick Press of Cambridge, Mass., has produced a gorgeous and simple edition of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” with luminous pencil illustrations by Matt Tavares of Ogunquit. Though only $8.99 in hardcover, this volume is produced as an heirloom, with endpages imitating pre-Victorian wallpaper. Tavares’ illustrations are the wonder here; their delicate textures allow a depth of history and a sense of vivid life while remaining true to the clothing and furniture of the 1823 era when the poem was first published in the Troy Sentinel, appropriate, since this volume retains the poem’s original grammar and punctuation.

The other remarkable book of the season is Rumer Godden’s story, “Holly & Ivy,” (New York: Viking, 2006. $17.99). This is a dream-come-true short story of a little orphan girl, a childless woman and a lonely doll, each longing for love on Christmas Eve.

Beautifully written, it was first published in 1958. In 1985, the late Damariscotta author and illustrator Barbara Cooney added her drawings to the tale. Godden, being a true storyteller, sprinkles in just enough anxiety and sadness to produce tears of happiness at the tale’s expected, delightful ending.

Though not a classic like the above books, Christmas magic is just around the tree in “The Finest Christmas Tree,” written and illustrated by John and Ann Hassett of Waldoboro (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. 2005. $16.00).

The story is about a Christmas tree grower’s encounter with modernization – or simply plastic Christmas trees. Just as Farmer Tuttle thinks he’ll have to cut down his fine collection of trees for toothpicks and clothespins, a jolly old elf steps in and saves the day – and the forest.

Lessons and legends

When my son was just going into elementary school, a teacher friend told me that whenever she needed to know something, she’d turn to a children’s book. I believe her. Like most people, I knew the modern marathon had an ancient Greek connection, but it wasn’t until I read “The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides” by Susan Reynolds, with illustrations by Daniel Minter of Portland (Illinois: Albert Whitman & Co. 2006. $16.95), that I discovered the actual legend behind it, and the courage of the brave runner who may – or may not – have run from the ancient town of Marathon to Athens to spread the news of Greek victory. And that was not even his most important run – though you’ll have to read the book to know why.

Hard to believe you could learn from a book called “Pirate Treasure,” populated by mice in seafaring clothing, but you can. South Thomaston author Loretta Krupinski’s new storybook (New York: Dutton Children’s Books. 2006. $15.99) is not only a fun tale, charmingly illustrated, of mice choosing between the land and the sea, it’s also chock-full of such weather ditties as, “When mountains and cliffs appear, a lot of showers and rain are near.” This is just the kind of information anyone can use to second-guess the weatherman, not to mention sound very wise and natural.

If you can learn from pirates and Greek myths, you can also learn from an old Korean tale. “The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea,” by Peak’s Island writer and illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien (Watertown, Mass.: Charlesbridge. 2006. $14.95), is not quite history, but it reveals a lot about life halfway around the world. The story is an ancient Korean legend of the unrecognized son of a nobleman based upon actual justice-seeking outlaws in Korea at a time when it was impossible to change one’s social status within the strict rules of Confucian society. These laws were so firm that the original author of this legend, Ho Kyun, who lived at the time of Cervantes, was executed for his association with the outlaws. Nevertheless, the story lives on. Using watercolors and ink, O’Brien offers Westerners a comic-book rendition of this ancient Korean superhero.

Another legend reissues this season. “Jack and the Beanstalk,” in a version by E. Nesbit that was first published in 1908, reads like a storyteller talking to a rapt audience, with asides aimed directly at the reader. Nesbit, best known for “The Railway Children,” was a British children’s writer and socialist of the turn of the 20th century; she adds a social justice twist to the story of Jack and the giant. Her detailed storytelling is combined with another set of exquisite, intensely satisfying pencil and watercolor drawings by Matt Tavares, raising this volume, like “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” to a true keepsake, the kind of book that ought to be handed down from generation to generation (Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 2006 $16.99).

If you’d like your children’s lessons to be in math as well as social justice, combine Nesbit’s version of Jack with “Beanstalk, the Measure of a Giant: A Math Adventure,” written by Ann McCallum and illustrated by James Balkovek of Unity (Watertown, Mass.: Charlesbridge. 2006. $6.95). Imagine the problems that can be created and solved when Jack tries to play anything – shadows, basketball, checkers – with a giant boy five times his size!

Young listeners

Thanks to the two great lions guarding the New York Public Library, lions and libraries seem inextricably connected. But what happens when a lion wanders into a library-and stays for story hour? No problem, says librarian Miss Merriweather, as long as the lion obeys the rules. In “Library Lion,” written by Michelle Knudsen (Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick. 2006. $15.99), Gorham illustrator Kevin Hawkes deftly finds a way to refer to just about every familiar lion populating children’s books, adding yet another layer to this story that isn’t just about lions, but also about acceptance and the uses of plain common sense.

While “Can’t Catch Me” by John and Ann Hassett (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006. $16) is a tale that comes from the heat of the summer, when just the thought of an ice cube can make mouths water, it’s still a great winter gift, and a delightfully silly rendition of a chase book, in this case of an ice cube racing to the sea in hopes of ultimately growing up to be an iceberg big enough to bump boats. In the process, this husband and wife children’s book team develops a classic chase line, from the boy who first let the ice cube out of his freezer, to the goose hoping for goose bumps, to the Popsicle man seeking reinforcement.

While the ice cube’s hopes aren’t quite fulfilled, the story of “Little Dog,” written and illustrated by Lisa Jahn-Clough of Portland (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 2006. $16) is a happy ending kind of tale. Scruffy and scrappy, little dog lives on the streets, constantly hungry; in the same town lives Rosa, an artist whose paintings are sad and dark. In Jahn-Clough’s book, all they need is each other – someone to love, someone to care for – to find happiness and such cheer that Rosa can’t help but put it in her paintings. A book for dog lovers, artists, and lovers of the country.

Early readers

“Mercy Watson Fights Crime” is the third in a relatively new series of readers about a curious, funny pig written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated with bravado by Chris Van Dusen of New Gloucester (Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 2006. $12.99). One night, Mercy hears the sound of toast being made. Being a pig, quite literally, the very sound makes Mercy ravenous and she heads down to the kitchen to find a cowboy thief stealing all the appliances. The thievery doesn’t faze Mercy, but her abiding interest in the butter smell she finds coming from the thief leads to a rollicking night of neighbors, firemen and policemen.

For a longer reader, try “Welcome to the Bed & Biscuit,” written by Joan Carris and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones of Camden (Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press 2006 $15.99). Young animal lovers will appreciate the humor and intrigue among the pets at Grandpa’s Bed and Biscuit farm and kennel, where a mynah bird named Gabby, a foundling cat named Milly and a three-year-old pig named Earnest have to accustom themselves to a tiny, singed Scottie puppy rescued from a barn fire.