A Christmas Gift is a reprint of a novel first published as The Melodeon by Doubleday in 1977. Glendon Swarthout later realized he'd given this holiday tale the wrong title and it was reissued in 1992 by St. Martin's Press with the missing "Christmas" in its title. This story was also made into a CBS Television movie in 1978, retitled A Christmas To Remember starring Joanne Woodward, Eva Marie Saint, and Jason Robards. That's where most readers have seen this story, when it replays occasional winter holidays on TV. Very confusing to fans, though, with 3 different titles for the exact same Christmas story.
This novella did make the New York Times bestseller list when first published and was very well-reviewed. It became a Readers' Digest Condensed book and was also condensed in Good Housekeeping magazine in December, 1992. Obviously A Christmas Gift has become a classic holiday tale with all these different editions and titles and a TV-Movie made from it as well.
On a stormy Christmas Eve on a remote Michigan farm during the Great Depression of the 1930's, a teenaged city boy and his old grandfather decide to give the family's heirloom melodeon (a small pump organ) to their impoverished local church so that, on Christmas morning, the congregation can sing to the accompaniment of inspiring music. But how are they to haul the heavy musical instrument through the most violent snow blizzard of the year? How? With fierce determination and the dubious help of four rambunctious girls -- and the intervention of a mysterious "Cavalryman" who will transform their young lives. Their neighborly triumph is a Christmas miracle indeed, and few have ever made it through reading this story's last poignant chapter without shedding a tear.
Reviews --
"A genuine Christmas story...Warm with human goodness and love." Christian Science Monitor
"There is both charm and a nostalgic ability to recapture times past in Swarthout's enchanting fictionalized memoir of a city boy's days on a farm... An appealing Christmas book." Publisher's Weekly
"A story spun of the simple and homely old human struggles and virtues that will startle the reader like an unexpected dawn...Here is a book which, while its theme and its attractive illustrations make it a suitable Christmas gift, will provide interesting reading for any time of the year."
Stanton Coblentz, Los Angeles Times
"Swarthout has written a touching tale for the entire family. It's short and simply written, and its message is clear: Christmas is love and miracles, though small, do happen." Pam Brown, Macon, Georgia Telegraph and News
"A Christmas Gift is a book that should be a Christmas classic in the traditions of Clement C. Moore. It's a beautiful story of love, and I could hardly read the last two chapters for pausing to mop my streaming eyes. Swarthout's story of small miracles is guaranteed to touch the heart of even the coldest Scrooge." Delores Ballard, the Jackson, Tennessee Sun
"True lessons of giving and sharing are conveyed in the sensitive story about the donation of the family heirloom, a melodeon, achieved through a small miracle that reunited a family. Swarthout's moving story succeeds in its simplicity and its setting in an earlier time, full of hope."
Booklist, American Library Association
"What an ideal Christmas book this is! It's all about miracles...The rest of the charming, beautifully illustrated little book is another Christmas miracle, one the entire community shared." Margaret Wiggins, Ft. Wayne, Indiana News-Sentinel
"Builds the suspense to a lump-in-the-throat climax that will draw many a tear from tender-hearted readers. This kind of story is supposed to have become a victim of our materialist age, but see if you can read it without feeling a surge of sentiment in that closing church scene. It's a charming tale written without a false note and perfectly attuned to the Christmas spirit." Barkham Reviews
This novella did make the New York Times bestseller list when first published and was very well-reviewed. It became a Readers' Digest Condensed book and was also condensed in Good Housekeeping magazine in December, 1992. Obviously A Christmas Gift has become a classic holiday tale with all these different editions and titles and a TV-Movie made from it as well.
On a stormy Christmas Eve on a remote Michigan farm during the Great Depression of the 1930's, a teenaged city boy and his old grandfather decide to give the family's heirloom melodeon (a small pump organ) to their impoverished local church so that, on Christmas morning, the congregation can sing to the accompaniment of inspiring music. But how are they to haul the heavy musical instrument through the most violent snow blizzard of the year? How? With fierce determination and the dubious help of four rambunctious girls -- and the intervention of a mysterious "Cavalryman" who will transform their young lives. Their neighborly triumph is a Christmas miracle indeed, and few have ever made it through reading this story's last poignant chapter without shedding a tear.
Reviews --
"A genuine Christmas story...Warm with human goodness and love." Christian Science Monitor
"There is both charm and a nostalgic ability to recapture times past in Swarthout's enchanting fictionalized memoir of a city boy's days on a farm... An appealing Christmas book." Publisher's Weekly
"A story spun of the simple and homely old human struggles and virtues that will startle the reader like an unexpected dawn...Here is a book which, while its theme and its attractive illustrations make it a suitable Christmas gift, will provide interesting reading for any time of the year."
Stanton Coblentz, Los Angeles Times
"Swarthout has written a touching tale for the entire family. It's short and simply written, and its message is clear: Christmas is love and miracles, though small, do happen." Pam Brown, Macon, Georgia Telegraph and News
"A Christmas Gift is a book that should be a Christmas classic in the traditions of Clement C. Moore. It's a beautiful story of love, and I could hardly read the last two chapters for pausing to mop my streaming eyes. Swarthout's story of small miracles is guaranteed to touch the heart of even the coldest Scrooge." Delores Ballard, the Jackson, Tennessee Sun
"True lessons of giving and sharing are conveyed in the sensitive story about the donation of the family heirloom, a melodeon, achieved through a small miracle that reunited a family. Swarthout's moving story succeeds in its simplicity and its setting in an earlier time, full of hope."
Booklist, American Library Association
"What an ideal Christmas book this is! It's all about miracles...The rest of the charming, beautifully illustrated little book is another Christmas miracle, one the entire community shared." Margaret Wiggins, Ft. Wayne, Indiana News-Sentinel
"Builds the suspense to a lump-in-the-throat climax that will draw many a tear from tender-hearted readers. This kind of story is supposed to have become a victim of our materialist age, but see if you can read it without feeling a surge of sentiment in that closing church scene. It's a charming tale written without a false note and perfectly attuned to the Christmas spirit." Barkham Reviews
