The New Christmas Tree

This Christmas, consider everyday objects from a new point of view, embrace a fresh color palette, or give your children’s handmade ornaments or special family heirlooms a new life. The inspiration is endless here, with one-of-a-kind trees that celebrate food, nature, fashion, folk art, typography, color, and art history. Each spectacular design is easily replicated, with step-by-step instructions for crafting coordinating ornaments, garlands, and toppers, plus advice on selecting the right tree, choosing lights, and more. Whether you have space for a towering fir or a sweet tabletop creation, whether your taste skews modern or traditional, quirky or sophisticated, there’s something for everyone!

Explores the roots of the Christmas tree tradition, tracing customs from the Middle Ages to the present day to reveal how it first became part of mainstream American culture and has since become popular worldwide.

A New York Harbor tugboat captain and his family take the tug up the Hudson River to pick up and tow the barge carrying the enormous Christmas tree that will be displayed at Rockefeller Center.

It’s Christmastime in 1946, and all Addie wants is a pair of cowboy boots and a Christmas tree Ten-year-old Addie lives in Clear River, Nebraska, population fifteen hundred, with her stoic but loving father and quirky grandmother. Carla Mae is her neighbor and best friend in the fifth grade. Carla Mae’s house is different than Addie’s—she has five siblings and another on the way, while Addie is an only child. It’s the week before Christmas, and shopping lists are at the front of the girls’ minds. Addie’s house doesn’t have a tree—her dad says they are a waste of money, and they’ll be opening presents at Uncle Will’s anyway. Uncle Will has a tree, but to Addie, it doesn’t feel like Christmas without a tree of their own. Then she comes up with the perfect plan. Will it make this the best Christmas they’ve ever had, or will her father never forgive her?

On a visit to a tree lot, the Johnson family sees three beautifully decorated trees standing in the center of the lot. A mysterious silver gift-wrapped box is under one of the trees. The old lot owner notices their intrigue and what he tells them, not only marks the beginning of a new family tradition, but also brings meaning and understanding into their Christmas celebration. In The Legend of the Christmas Tree, children ages 4 to 8 will discover the wonderful story of how the evergreen tree first became a symbol of Christmas and a way to tell people about God. The beautiful illustrations by Bill Dodge add a wonderful richness to the story and help bring meaning to one of our best-loved traditions---decorating the Christmas tree.

At Christmas time, a nun agrees to donate to Rockefeller Center a fir tree which has been her best friend since the time she arrived at her convent as a young orphan.

Every year Farmer Tuttle loads his truck with Christmas trees fresh from his farm and drives down to the city to sell them. Then he picks out a special Christmas hat to bring home to Mrs. Tuttle. But one year, people stopped buying real Christmas trees. Fake ones were more convenient, they said. So Farmer Tuttle had to return home without a hat to give his wife. The Tuttles worried; if they couldn’t sell their trees anymore, what would they do? Just when they’re about to sell all their trees to a man from the sawmill, a mysterious letter arrives requesting Farmer Tuttle’s finest tree . . .

Family members take their Christmas tree into the back yard and decorate it with edible trimmings for the wild birds and animals.