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.

Relates the story of the real-life journey up the Hudson River by a New York Harbor tugboat captain and his family 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?

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.

This charming tale of an overgrown pine always being passed by for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him, is sure to become a Christmas classic. With delightful illustrations by wildlife artist Michael Monroe and enchanting text from Colleen Monroe, the birds, deer and squirrel of this story help make their special friend's wish come true.

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, friendship, and the spirit of giving are at the heart of this inspiring picture book. Opening in Depression-era New York, The Carpenter's Gift tells the story of eight-year-old Henry and his out-of-work father selling Christmas trees in Manhattan. They give one of their leftover trees to construction workers building Rockefeller Center. That tree becomes the first Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, the finest Henry has seen when adorned with homemade decorations. Henry wishes on the tree for a nice, warm house to replace his family's drafty, one-room shack. Through the kindness of new friends and old neighbors, Henry's wish is granted, and he plants a pinecone to commemorate the event. As an old man, Henry repays the gift by donating to Rockefeller Center the enormous tree that has grown from that pinecone. After bringing joy to thousands as a beautiful Christmas tree, its wood will be used to build a home for a family in need. Written by children's nonfiction author David Rubel, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, The Carpenter's Gift features charming, full-color illustrations by Jim LaMarche.