I hope you all had a lovely Christmas (with plenty of new books to read) and that you are enjoying the peaceful hiatus between one set of festivities and the next. You may have even begun to ponder the dreaded New Year’s Resolution question.
But as Christmas is not yet over (there are Twelve days of Christmas after all) I am taking the opportunity to squeeze in one more tinselly title before normal service is resumed on the Landing Book Shelves. As I think I have mentioned during the course of the Advent Calendar Challenge, I try to add a Christmas book to our shelves every year.
The Fir Tree
This year’s choice fell upon The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen in a new edition illustrated by Finnish designer Sanna Annukka (Hutchinson, 2012). Annukka’s beautiful geometric style illustrations give the book a contemporary feel without detracting from the magic of this classic fable. The volume is produced as a cloth bound hard backed book with Annuka’s designs decorating the end papers.
Perhaps this is an apt choice for post-Christmas /pre-New Year since I am sure we could all learn a lesson from the little fir tree who realised too late that he should have been living in the present and making the most of what he had:
“It’s over, it’s over!” said the poor tree. “If only I had enjoyed it while I could. It’s over, it’s over!”
Hmm, I can feel a New Year’s Resolution coming on….
By the way, if anyone is interested in Sanna Annukka’s work the link to her website is here with some fabulous designs. I may well return to Hans Christian Andersen at a future date as there are many lovely editions of his stories available. In the meantime…
Enjoy the rest of the festive season, folks!
