How to Decorate a Christmas Tree

Written by Vikki VanSickle

Illustrated by Miki Sato

Tundra Books

978-0-735268586

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2023

 

We always decorate our tree about a week before Christmas so I'm right on target for my family for the reading of this book. But Vikki VanSickle and Miki Sato's picture book How to Decorate a Christmas Tree will resonate with anyone who has ever decorated a tree at Christmas, whether early or late, because of the familiarity of the task and the heart which is embedded in it.

From How to Decorate a Christmas Tree, written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Miki Sato

We may all have our own way of preparing a Christmas tree for the holidays, but certain steps are always needed.  First, the tree must be gotten, whether from a forest, a store, or a storage area. This family waits until it's cold to pick up their tree but, depending on where you live, this might or might not be feasible. Inside, the tree is released from its bindings, placed in the cleared area, and the first sensory experience begins. Ah, that fresh scent!

From How to Decorate a Christmas Tree, written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Miki Sato

With each new step, from unravelling the strings of lights, to retrieving the ornaments and placing them one at a time on the tree, the family must be cautious of the tabby cat that likes to get into things and under things. And as the family places each ornament on the tree, some handmade, some store-bought, there is a memory and an emotion that comes with it. It could be a memory of a time, or a place, or a person, or a feeling, but each ornament touches them as they place them gingerly and strategically upon the tree. And each story is told to a little one in a playpen too young for this year's endeavour but included just the same.

From How to Decorate a Christmas Tree, written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Miki Sato

You could Google "how to decorate a Christmas tree" online and you would probably find hundreds if not thousands of sites to help. But, Vikki VanSickle, who has written everything from picture books to middle grade and young adult, whether humourous, realistic fiction, romance, or speculative fiction, doesn't make this a one-size-fits-all story. She's not telling you how you must decorate. Instead, she lets us glimpse in the window of one family as a little girl tells her baby brother everything that they do and why and what it means. She's sharing and making a Christmas for all to remember.

From How to Decorate a Christmas Tree, written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Miki Sato

Illustrator Miki Sato's watercolour and cut-paper art gives the texture that makes How to Decorate a Christmas Tree something more special. Whether she makes the ornaments that appear tactile though in only two dimensions or gives us a popcorn strand so real that we can smell its popping in the air, Miki Sato brings us into that living room to open boxes, delicately handle fragile memories, and to enjoy the comfort of family.

Whether you decorate your Christmas tree with a cat in attendance or a dog, with popcorn or tinsel, with homemade ornaments or store-bought bling, your tree will be perfect because it's yours, created with love and memories of Christmases past and future, and always family, whether present or not. Merry Christmas!

 

From How to Decorate a Christmas Tree, written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Miki Sato