A Christmas Tradition

Expressions on faces of children as they listen to a story.

Tierney with her new book, A Farm Country Christmas Eve.

If you look at the pictures, you will easily figure out why for eleven consecutive years I've made it a Christmas Tradition to perform my Christmas book for third graders at Big Woods Elementary, St. Michael, MN, and Otsego Elementary, Elk River, MN.  The response is a storyteller's dream.

This year we added Fieldstone Elementary, which is also at St. Michael. On Monday, December 20, we did two shows at Fieldstone in the morning and two shows at Otsego Elementary in the afternoon.
On Tuesday morning we did two shows at Big Woods Elementary School.

The weather may have been nasty, but everyone seemed to have fun. Check the pictures of kids on the following pages.

Angelic faces of children listening to A Farm Country Christmas Eve.

Beginning of show for first group at Fieldstone Elementary.

For a few minutes between shows Nancy and I watch kids playing in the snow.

(Remember when it didn't seem to matter how wet and cold you were when were having fun?)

Question and answer time after the second show at Fieldstone Elementary.

Students in the first group at Otsego watch and listen as I explain why farmers wore high-top shoes.

The second group at Otsego listen as I explain what each of the Carlson kids asked Santa to bring.

Question and answer time for the first group at Big Woods Elementary.

The question for the second group at Big Woods Elementary is

 "What did Jimmy share with his parents at the end of the story?"

Answer: A Warm Smile.

Mrs. Mashek's third grade class.

Kids listen as I explain why farmers wore bibbed overalls. The pockets in the bib have many uses.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson