THE BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS TREE

Nascimbene tackles Zolotow’s 1972 story, providing delicate pen-and-watercolor illustrations in pale blue and tan. Mr. Crockett, described by the neighbors as “a peculiar man,” buys the long empty brownstone, and sets about washing windows and fixing it up. He digs up the small square of soil in front, and buys a wizened little pine languishing in the flower shop. He nurtures it through the winter, and when spring comes he plants the tree, remarkably bigger and more robust, outside; as years pass it becomes a majestic pine, the glory of the neighborhood. The illustrator’s vision is rather austere and remote; even when the children assemble at the tree for its finest hour, the perspective is distant. Nevertheless, the quiet story endures, as does its message. (Picture book. 4-8)