Spirit of Christmas . . . from pages of children's books

The ghosts of Christmases past share wise words about the holiday spirit with today's young readers in several new picture books with the message that this magical season is about more than what's under the tree.

"Josie's Gift" (Broadman & Holman, ages 4-8, $16.99) by Kathleen Long Bostrom and illustrated by Frank Ordaz takes place during the Depression, when many families, including Josie's, couldn't afford fancy new blue sweaters. But that didn't stop Josie from asking for it.

Somehow, she thought the new sweater would take the place of her father who died earlier in the year from "the fever." Every Christmas, he'd carve a new wooden character for the family's Nativity scene, and that alone could light up the faces of Josie and her brother.

This year, though, all Josie's thoughts were dark.

When she creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve, she sees the sweater, but her initial joy soon turns to sadness when she realizes she's missing the right holiday feeling inside.

A trio of special visitors to her family's barn rekindles her spirit just in time.

Hattie and Junior are forced to celebrate their first Christmas in the big city where Momma took a job in a factory while Daddy is away fighting in World War II in "One Splendid Tree" (Kids Can Press, ages 4-8, $17.95) by Marilyn Helmer and illustrated by Dianne Eastmann.

The family struggles to make ends meet, and a holiday tree simply isn't in the budget. But a holiday plant — now that might be a possibility.

Hattie and Junior share their plant and their excitement with their neighbors and soon everyone seems just a bit jollier.

"An Ellis Island Christmas" (Puffin, ages 5 and up, $6.99) by Maxinne Rhea Leighton and illustrated by Dennis Nolan is the soft-cover reprint of a 1992 story about a young Polish immigrant who arrives on U.S. shores on Christmas Eve.

Her holiday gift isn't a new toy, but, rather an old one that her mother had stowed away in a box during their long boat ride. She also eats cookies, warm milk and tries a banana, and she learns to translate St. Mikolaj to Santa Claus almost immediately.

But the best present of all is being reunited with her father so her family could all be together on Christmas.