But for now, here's one to whet your appetite:
"The author came to visit our school and spoke with our 4th and 5th grade classes. As a parent volunteer, I was present during her presentations. She selected passages from The Christmas Village to share with the children. As she was discussing how and why she wrote the passages, we all became hooked on the story. There was a mad dash to our school library to borrow the one copy of this book.
I purchased the printed copy of the book to read with my 8 year old - let's hope he does not give away the story when the author comes to visit again next year. We read the story together at night before bedtime. Each of us took turns reading out loud. My husband, who admittedly hates to read loved the story. While we were reading the book he kept telling that I had to let the author know how great the book is.
Not only is the story great, but the writing is vivid. The author's writing style has you caught up in the story, you feel like you are there. There is plenty of suspense in the story to make it hard to put the book down. The ending is wonderful. Another parent in the school asked me about this book her 4th grade daughter could not stop talking about. I loaned the girl my copy of the book. When we would see each other I would ask her if she was done because I wanted to know what she thought of the ending. When I saw her this week, she came running over to me excited to tell me she finished the book. She gave me a big hug and told me she loved the ending.