Paging All Readers: December 2003

When I was a kid, there were no mountains of gifts under the tree. My parents were new immigrants to Canada and, well, poor – though I didn't realize it at the time. Christmas meant new flannel pyjamas or a bathrobe, new underwear and roasted chestnuts. Toys were something I gawked at in store windows – Easy Bake ovens, dolls and paint-by-number kits – then rushed home to play with in my head.

Of course, there was the one year that my Uncle Vince came home for Christmas with his bride Josette from France. She bought me a Barbie. Oh, how I loved to chew on that Barbie's feet! The rubber was so soft (not like the hard plastic feet she has today), and it was so satisfying. The unfortunate result of my gnawing was that Barbie's feet lost their perma-arch and the toes splayed so that she couldn't slide into her pumps of many hues anymore. Odd behaviour, you say? My Aunt Josette thought so, and called me an ingrate amongst many other things in French. That put an abrupt end to my (short) toy gravy train.

Then one year – I was nine – another of my aunts, Aunt Mary, got a job in downtown Toronto at Simpsons and bought me a book for Christmas. And not just any book, but Anne of Green Gables. I read that book, then I read it again then again and again and again. I fell in love with Anne, Diana and Matthew and the Haunted Wood. I guarded that book and treated it with a gentleness that turned Barbie green with envy as she sat at the curb on garbage day. (Unfortunately she couldn't run away, as her feet weren't working very well…)

Anne's were the first of many adventures I shared. I travelled to distant lands, I solved mysteries, I was the heroine, the villain – one time, I was even Dr.. Doolittle. I came to love reading so much that one afternoon, as I was signing out my daily book at the Bookmobile, my Grade 4 teacher asked, “Don't you have any friends?”

“Yes,” I said, “but sometimes I'd rather just read books. There are so many!” (My goal was to read every book in the world.)

I still haven't reached that goal (although I'm working on it). And I always give my son (now 14) a book for Christmas -- as well as a new pair of pyjamas, although we don't do roasted chestnuts anymore. Yes, he does get other stuff as well – but after the bells and whistles of the “marquee” presents have quieted down, he'll usually pick up that book and read it – and if he likes it, read it again and again and again.

Have you asked your kids if there are any books they'd like to find under the tree this year? We did, on our web site. So if you're looking to wrap up a few good reads this year, we'd like to offer you this sneak peek into Santa's pack:

“I want Santa to bring me The Grinch Who Stole Christmas because I really liked the movie and Mommy says the book is even better.” Christine

"I want Santa to bring me a book about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer because he is my favourite and will show Santa how to get here and eat my cookies." Chloe

"I really want Santa to bring me the latest Harry Potter book. My mom and I have read the first ones, but I still haven't read his last one. "Jordan

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Deluxe Gift Edition." Scott

"I would really like Santa to bring me Scooby Doo books because that dog makes me laugh and I like to laugh with my mama." Tyler

"Ralphy in Space by Trevor Lai, he is my favourite rhino. " Sabrina

"Walter the Farting Dog, because I really like dogs."Hanko

"Pokey Little Puppy because I like puppies and puppies like us." Steven

"I want Santa to bring me a Dora the Explorer book because it is my favorite T.V. show. Because of Dora, I am learning Spanish." Kaitlyn

"A Winnie the Pooh book because it has great pictures." Noah