Picture Book Review: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
Written and illustrated by:  Robert Barry
Published by: Random House, 1963

  It is time to get in the holiday spirit and I'm kicking off a month of holiday themed book reviews with this one.  Growing up it was tradition in my family to drive to a Christmas tree farm, pick out and cut down our own tree, and have lunch out.  I carried on this tradition with my husband our first couple of Christmases.  However, he was getting annoyed with pine needles everywhere and I was in disbelief at how expensive the trees were getting.  So, a couple of years ago we invested in a fake tree.  However, I light scented candles so I can still have that nostalgic "Christmas Tree" smell.   Putting up the lights and tree always seems to be the kick-off of the holiday season for us.  So I thought that this book was fitting.  Told in rhyme, this book tells about the gigantic tree that Mr. Willowby gets.  It's so big that it doesn't stand up straight in the parlor so he has his butler chop off the top.  The butler gives the top to the maid, who chops off the top.  The gardener finds the top out by the garbage and takes it home, where his wife chops off the top....and so on.  Mr. Willowby's gigantic tree ends up bringing holiday cheer to many different families.  This book was first written in 1963 and has still stood the test of time.  This was an enjoyable, classic holiday read.   

This book was borrowed from the library.  

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.