The Legend of the Christmas Tree

Osborne, Rick. The Legend of the Christmas Tree. Illustrated by Bill Dodge. Grand Rapids, MI: Lightwave Publishing, 2001.

I don’t know about your kiddos, but the students at my school enjoy hearing legends and how traditions got started. In The Legend of the Christmas Tree a family who looking for a Christmas tree learns how evergreen trees came to represent Christmas. From the monk named Boniface who used a tree to teach about the Trinity, to Medieval times when December 24 was the Feast of Adam and Eve and evergreen trees were decorated with bread and apples, and to Martin Luther bringing an evergreen tree into his home and putting candles on it to tell the story of the birth of Christ, the family learns how evergreen trees came to be in homes and decorated at Christmas time. Osborne’s story line is realistic and believable while Dodge’s illustrations complement the text well.

If your students are interested in legends or in how Christmas traditions got their start, consider The Legend of the Christmas Tree for your collection.

Legend of the Christmas Tree, The is available from Amazon.