Story of Rockefeller Center Tree told by The Carpenter’s Gifts
In all the flurry (hustle and bustle) of December and Christmas, remember, taking the time to Read Aloud to your children 15 minutes a day is one of the most important activities you will do for them.
My next several blogs include Christmas read-aloud books from my collection in the book 12 Days of Christmas, A Christmas Family Read Aloud that I am working on publishing.
I invite you to merge the Christmas Holidays with the 12 Days of Christmas, A Christmas Family Read Aloud, to make the holiday even more special and memorable.
I chose to start with The Carpenter’s Gift because the year 2020, (Tuesday, December 2, 2020) will be the first time they will light the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, and hopefully the only time, without a crowd of people watching from the square.
A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree
written by David Rubel,
illustrator by Jim LaMarche
Have you ever been to the Rockefeller Center during the Christmas season to see the magnificent Christmas Tree? I haven’t but I have read about it. This beautiful book The Carpenter’s Gift gives you a chance to read some historical facts about the Rockefeller tree, Habitat for Humanity, and life during the depression.
Read and enjoy the beautiful fiction story about a young boy named Henry and his father selling Christmas trees at the construction site of the Rockefeller Center. When they leave to go home they have a few Christmas trees left so they give them to the construction workers. Henry comes home with a pine cone in his pocket and plants it by their shack.
To Henry’s surprise, on Christmas morning, the Rockefeller workers arrive at Henry’s shack with leftover lumber to build Henry’s family a better house. At the end of the day, a worker gives Henry an old hammer. The years pass and the story ends with Henry now an old man handing over his hammer to a young girl whose family will receive the Habitat For Humanity lumber from the Rockefeller tree after the Christmas Season.
FACTS ABOUT THE ROCKEFELLER TREE
In the Christmas season of 2018, the tree was a 72 feet tall Norway spruce.
The Tree traveled by road, traveling more than 70 miles from Wallkill, New York to the Rockefeller Center, where it overlooked the ice skaters on the rink. Can you imagine all the obstacles it met on the way: overpasses, towns, traffic, etc.
The finished Tree had 50,000 lights and was topped with the new 9-foot-wide Swarovski Star designed by world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind. This star is 9-foot-4-inches wide made of a whopping three million crystals.
1931 First Christmas tree on the grounds, put up by construction workers.
1933 First official year of Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
1999 Tallest tree ever, at 100 feet.
Great Youtube Video “The Behind the Scenes of The Carpenter’s Gift” by Illustrator Jim LaMarche
As a side note to 2020’s Christmas tree, New York Daily News reported, “Workers found an adorable owl tucked inside the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree while unwrapping the 72-foot Norway spruce from upstate New York. The Christmas surprise over the weekend became an early present for animal rescue workers at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, N.Y.”
Jylene Morgan is a retired educator. She is passionate about the importance of reading aloud to children from top quality
children’s books. Writing about her life experiences she captivates her audience by telling the tales of her family’s adventures. The first several books are written about funny exchanges that occur when human and wild animal’s lives come together.
To read more about me, my passion for reading aloud to children and my books go to www.jylenemorgan.com. Make sure you join our mailing list so you receive Jylene's "Most Treasured Books List". So you can also be the first to know when Jylene's next book, BUMMER and the Nanny Goat, is available.
