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When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four: A Christmas Memory
Three young boys learn a lesson in grace as they help their mother at Christmastime.
94 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2001
About the author
Jerry Camery-Hoggatt
19 books6 followersNot so long ago, there was a boy who lived with three cousins and four siblings in a three-story house. The attic was converted into a large bedroom where they slept and played and wondered about things larger than themselves. In that house the boy learned about God, about love, divorce, violence and, much later, reconciliation. There he began his quest for truth that would lead him around the world and finally to a life-altering experience at a place not so far from where he began.
So goes the story of Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, now Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Narrative Theology. Camery-Hoggatt has sterling academic credentials, but he is also a riveting storyteller, a published author of scholarly monographs, commentaries, memoirs and fiction, a performer of story concerts and a pioneering professor who teaches the gospel as odyssey rather than as outline.
Camery-Hoggatt's life is as dramatic as the stories he tells. As a boy, his childhood was overshadowed by his parents' divorce, which left the Pentecostal, church-going family with a shameful stigma. Former church friends crossed the street to avoid them. Camery-Hoggatt was so shaken by this that he began to question God's existence. He posed a theological question to his pastor one Sunday, and the pastor replied, "We're Christians. We don't ask those kinds of questions." Perplexed, Camery-Hoggatt graduated high school and left home, joining the musical group Up With People! and touring the world. Deep in his heart he was searching for answers.
One Easter Sunday he found himself in an old Russian monastery in Stamford, Conn., attending a midnight mass. There, seated among the immigrants who whispered to one another in their native tongue, Camery-Hoggatt witnessed a scene of reconciliation that stirred his soul. At that moment he decided he would ask again the question of God: "If God did not exist, then nothing mattered; if God did exist, then nothing else mattered in quite the same way."
He returned from touring and took his spiritual journey to a Christian college, where he says he was welcomed despite his spiritual doubts. Wary and questioning, he made the faith his own there, and threw himself into a lifelong study of the New Testament.
"What captured me was the discovery that these books were written by real people who had real stories to tell and were wrestling with real life issues, just like my students and the people in the churches where I grew up," he says. "It was a great relief, because it was so much messier than what I had learned in Sunday School. Growing up I'd been handed a view of the Bible that was idealized, theoretical, and abstract -- divorced from real life." Now I saw it as a real book that came out of real human experience, full of tension and turmoil, conviction and conflict, disappointment and drama. I found it immensely rich."
His journey took him to seminary and Boston University where he earned a Ph.D. in Early Christian Origins. He studied with Markan scholar Howard Clark Kee, sociologist Peter Berger, and literary theorist Amos Wilder, the older brother of playwright Thornton Wilder. Blending their perspectives, he wrote his dissertation on the use of irony as a narrative strategy in the Gospel of Mark.
Today, he prefers writing theology in story form, rather than in outline. "People respond to a story in a fundamentally different way than they respond to an outline," he says. "There are dimensions of reality that cannot be captured in an outline but can be in a story. That difference leads to an automatic disconnect between our formal education-which is outline-and the daily life of the church, which is story. An effective minister has to be bi-lingual, able to communicate in both modes."
In A Death of Splendid Daring, Dr. Camery-Hoggatt pulls it all together: A novel set in 1st Century Rome, where a Roman family gathers to discuss -- and sometimes argue about -the meaning of the Gospel of Mark.
So goes the story of Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, now Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Narrative Theology. Camery-Hoggatt has sterling academic credentials, but he is also a riveting storyteller, a published author of scholarly monographs, commentaries, memoirs and fiction, a performer of story concerts and a pioneering professor who teaches the gospel as odyssey rather than as outline.
Camery-Hoggatt's life is as dramatic as the stories he tells. As a boy, his childhood was overshadowed by his parents' divorce, which left the Pentecostal, church-going family with a shameful stigma. Former church friends crossed the street to avoid them. Camery-Hoggatt was so shaken by this that he began to question God's existence. He posed a theological question to his pastor one Sunday, and the pastor replied, "We're Christians. We don't ask those kinds of questions." Perplexed, Camery-Hoggatt graduated high school and left home, joining the musical group Up With People! and touring the world. Deep in his heart he was searching for answers.
One Easter Sunday he found himself in an old Russian monastery in Stamford, Conn., attending a midnight mass. There, seated among the immigrants who whispered to one another in their native tongue, Camery-Hoggatt witnessed a scene of reconciliation that stirred his soul. At that moment he decided he would ask again the question of God: "If God did not exist, then nothing mattered; if God did exist, then nothing else mattered in quite the same way."
He returned from touring and took his spiritual journey to a Christian college, where he says he was welcomed despite his spiritual doubts. Wary and questioning, he made the faith his own there, and threw himself into a lifelong study of the New Testament.
"What captured me was the discovery that these books were written by real people who had real stories to tell and were wrestling with real life issues, just like my students and the people in the churches where I grew up," he says. "It was a great relief, because it was so much messier than what I had learned in Sunday School. Growing up I'd been handed a view of the Bible that was idealized, theoretical, and abstract -- divorced from real life." Now I saw it as a real book that came out of real human experience, full of tension and turmoil, conviction and conflict, disappointment and drama. I found it immensely rich."
His journey took him to seminary and Boston University where he earned a Ph.D. in Early Christian Origins. He studied with Markan scholar Howard Clark Kee, sociologist Peter Berger, and literary theorist Amos Wilder, the older brother of playwright Thornton Wilder. Blending their perspectives, he wrote his dissertation on the use of irony as a narrative strategy in the Gospel of Mark.
Today, he prefers writing theology in story form, rather than in outline. "People respond to a story in a fundamentally different way than they respond to an outline," he says. "There are dimensions of reality that cannot be captured in an outline but can be in a story. That difference leads to an automatic disconnect between our formal education-which is outline-and the daily life of the church, which is story. An effective minister has to be bi-lingual, able to communicate in both modes."
In A Death of Splendid Daring, Dr. Camery-Hoggatt pulls it all together: A novel set in 1st Century Rome, where a Roman family gathers to discuss -- and sometimes argue about -the meaning of the Gospel of Mark.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 1, 2015
This is a memoir. It tells the story off his mother at Christmas. It covers a grat many Christmases. It tells of diversity in family beliefs and the struggles of a large family whose children wee not just siblings but cousins who lived within the household. It tells of teaching the youngstrs the values they considered to be most important. It takes them through time and shows how being have-a-lots and going to have-a-kittlescan be a tough transistion for the heart and soul.. It shows the youngsters growing to realize what giving instead of recieving really means and that have-a-littles can actually have mor tha have-a-lots. I give it 5 stars and woould recommend it to any age reader.
December 25, 2020
This was the first time in which I have read this particular Christmas book, but now having read it, I am confident that it will be added to my stack of favorite Christmas books that I read each Christmas season.
Read
November 18, 2025Read because my grandma gave it to me and said she reads it every year. It was cute enough, and the religious stuff wasn't too in your face.
May 22, 2019
This true story about the author's childhood is both touching and full of joy. Jerry reminisces about his childhood Christmases. Their family is large - five siblings, three cousins, and his mom and dad. Jerry's mom is 'small on the outside but tall on the inside,' and she strives to make Christmas beautiful, memorable, and extravagant for her children.
Then one year, things change. Their cousins go back to live with their parents, and their father leaves. There is no money for the type of Christmas they were used to, but the children decide to earn some money to give their mother a Christmas she will never forget. And they learn that the word extravagant doesn't always mean expensive.
When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four is a sweet, nostalgic look at Christmas and what it means to be part of a family. Young children will like the pictures and get the general idea, but the larger themes are more applicable to older children and especially adults. This is a sweet holiday tale with a wonderful message about love and giving.
Then one year, things change. Their cousins go back to live with their parents, and their father leaves. There is no money for the type of Christmas they were used to, but the children decide to earn some money to give their mother a Christmas she will never forget. And they learn that the word extravagant doesn't always mean expensive.
When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four is a sweet, nostalgic look at Christmas and what it means to be part of a family. Young children will like the pictures and get the general idea, but the larger themes are more applicable to older children and especially adults. This is a sweet holiday tale with a wonderful message about love and giving.
December 28, 2024
When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four is a precious story! At 94 pages, it falls somewhere between short story and novella length. I read it fairly quickly, but savored every word. Jerry Camery-Hoggatt is a gifted story teller.
This story chronicles the family life and events leading up to the Christmas of 1963, when a young Jerry learned about true gift giving, the meaning of grace. At a mere 4'11", his mother "always said that when she was at her very best, she was eleven-foot-four." The story draws smiles, tears, and lingers long afterwards.
I loved this quote from the ending...
My mother had said that the inner freedom to do something absolutely extravagant was the closest human beings ever come to feeling what God must feel when God is being gracious toward us, that when we give an extravagant gift we somehow rise above ourselves and become a little better than we were.
This story chronicles the family life and events leading up to the Christmas of 1963, when a young Jerry learned about true gift giving, the meaning of grace. At a mere 4'11", his mother "always said that when she was at her very best, she was eleven-foot-four." The story draws smiles, tears, and lingers long afterwards.
I loved this quote from the ending...
My mother had said that the inner freedom to do something absolutely extravagant was the closest human beings ever come to feeling what God must feel when God is being gracious toward us, that when we give an extravagant gift we somehow rise above ourselves and become a little better than we were.
December 15, 2025
This is a perfect short story to read when you're feeling nostalgic about Christmases past and long to put your Christmas present in the right perspective. The transition from being a gift receiver to a gift giver is a life-changing experience.
Many of us have been blessed with mothers who in our eyes are bigger than life, who faced tremendous obstacles in their lives and still made us feel that they can do anything. They really did do much more than we realized until we look back and see it from a more mature perspective. That is what this story did. The children came to realize what sacrifice meant and how much their mother had done. In this short story they find a way to return some of that spirit to their mother. Written by an author who plainly sees what this world needs more of.
Many of us have been blessed with mothers who in our eyes are bigger than life, who faced tremendous obstacles in their lives and still made us feel that they can do anything. They really did do much more than we realized until we look back and see it from a more mature perspective. That is what this story did. The children came to realize what sacrifice meant and how much their mother had done. In this short story they find a way to return some of that spirit to their mother. Written by an author who plainly sees what this world needs more of.
December 26, 2025
(4 1/2) this book was pretty cute, I found it at my grandma's house and read through the entire thing while my family was making cherry turnovers (a Christmas tradition). it's not that long and it's easy to read and it really captures the nostalgic sweetness of Christmas as a child even if your childhood was much more recent than the authors. i live the heartwarming vibe of the story and the author writes about such a delightful memory with sweet prose that could bring out the Christmas cheer from even the most scroogelike person you know
February 17, 2017
A short, sweet Christmas memoir that brought back sooo many memories of my childhood Christmases, even though those took place several years before those described by the author.
At only 94 pages (and large print) it's a quick read, but I suggest you savor each chapter.
I'm going to suggest it for my book club's December read, but if you're looking for a heartwarming, feel-good read, please don't wait until the Christmas season to pick up a copy.
At only 94 pages (and large print) it's a quick read, but I suggest you savor each chapter.
I'm going to suggest it for my book club's December read, but if you're looking for a heartwarming, feel-good read, please don't wait until the Christmas season to pick up a copy.
September 7, 2020
Quick read that I found in a random stack of books. It was alright – hard to complain about Christmas-themed stories.
“More than once [my mother] told us that the inner personal freedom to choose something absolutely extravagant is the closest human beings ever come to understand what God must feel when he is being gracious.”
“More than once [my mother] told us that the inner personal freedom to choose something absolutely extravagant is the closest human beings ever come to understand what God must feel when he is being gracious.”
April 9, 2022
Within a large close knit family the parents only disagree about one thing..........Christmas. Father wishes it did not exist and tries to keep his wife from celebrating it each year but he never wins the argument. Mother then celebrates to the best of her abilities for her children and succeeds even at the worst of times.
A very sweet Christmas memoir.
A very sweet Christmas memoir.
December 8, 2018
This broke my heart
What a beautiful story! It had so many parallels to my own Christmas memories that I was in tears and then overcome with joy as the message of Christmas sank in. What a magnificent storyteller!
What a beautiful story! It had so many parallels to my own Christmas memories that I was in tears and then overcome with joy as the message of Christmas sank in. What a magnificent storyteller!
December 13, 2018
Great story!
The true spirit of giving and self-sacrifice is taught in this book. Definitely a classic Christmas tale for the whole family.
The true spirit of giving and self-sacrifice is taught in this book. Definitely a classic Christmas tale for the whole family.
December 8, 2019
Short and sweet Christmas memoir with a fitting lesson about the joy of giving.
December 13, 2019
A wonderful little book to enjoy every year during the holidays. I loved it.
December 16, 2019
Super easy quick read. Sweet story of love, selflessness and overcoming challenges
December 6, 2020
Heartwarming
A tear jerking reminder that Christmas is about what we can do for others and that its the time spent with the ones we love that makes it so magical.
A tear jerking reminder that Christmas is about what we can do for others and that its the time spent with the ones we love that makes it so magical.
December 28, 2021
The writing itself wasn't amazing, but the author got to the heart of it well. I even cried a little. Very touching.
December 17, 2024
Well written and such a sweet message. 6 y/o loved it too.
January 5, 2025
3-1/2 stars - Short touching memoir, a tribute to the author's mother.
November 11, 2025
I loved it!
December 5, 2025
Great story. I love the title and how it ties into his mother's inner strength.
November 29, 2010
Well, maybe 5 stars is a bit high when I see it says "It was amazing". But, I love Christmas stories. And I especially love them when they aren't too sappy. I also love them when one of the characters thinks Christmas is of upmost importance and loves to celebrate it.
As someone who has had a history of "blowing the budget" when it comes to Christmas and is married to a man who wanted to set the budget at $5 for stockings, I found complete justification in the Mother's opinion.
"The inner personal freedom to do something absolutely extravagant is the closet human beings ever come to understanding what God must feel when he is being gracious....When we give someone else an extravagant gift, we somehow rise above ourselves, even if only just a little bit. We become better than we are, larger on the inside."
I can't say I have ever felt Godlike at Christmas, but I have felt better then my normal self. It took me a long time to be willing to sacrifice all the glory to Santa Claus and understand what selflessness that takes. There is nothing like the excitement and pleasure one feels when they are giving a gift that they JUST KNOW is going to blow the receivers mind and they are going to completely love it. (Some of my favorite Christmas coups: whole collection of James Bond video's, a full length dress coat, a shotgun (from his gun hating wife). It is addicting! Of course, it is even more fun when you haven't "blown the budget", but I related to her on the years I have and the years I haven't.
I don't want to put any spoilers in here, but It's a great little Christmas book. Just an hour or so read.
As someone who has had a history of "blowing the budget" when it comes to Christmas and is married to a man who wanted to set the budget at $5 for stockings, I found complete justification in the Mother's opinion.
"The inner personal freedom to do something absolutely extravagant is the closet human beings ever come to understanding what God must feel when he is being gracious....When we give someone else an extravagant gift, we somehow rise above ourselves, even if only just a little bit. We become better than we are, larger on the inside."
I can't say I have ever felt Godlike at Christmas, but I have felt better then my normal self. It took me a long time to be willing to sacrifice all the glory to Santa Claus and understand what selflessness that takes. There is nothing like the excitement and pleasure one feels when they are giving a gift that they JUST KNOW is going to blow the receivers mind and they are going to completely love it. (Some of my favorite Christmas coups: whole collection of James Bond video's, a full length dress coat, a shotgun (from his gun hating wife). It is addicting! Of course, it is even more fun when you haven't "blown the budget", but I related to her on the years I have and the years I haven't.
I don't want to put any spoilers in here, but It's a great little Christmas book. Just an hour or so read.
January 20, 2021
Perhaps the best book of my year.
January 1, 2023
December 2020
This beautiful Christmas memory translates into a touching and poignant story with illustrations in a style similar to The Polar Express. A great addition to a traditional Christmas library.
Note: there seems to be several versions of this book, one is a novella of about 90 pages and the other a children's picture book of 30 pages.
December 2021
From the back cover:
"Mother was only four-foot-eleven-inches on the outside, but when she was at her best she stood eleven-foot-four on the inside. And every Christmas she was at her best. Mother would carefully decorate a twelve-foot Christmas tree and load extravagant presents beneath its branches, and the magic of the holiday would begin. . . . Then one year everything changed. Mother cried on Christmas. As her sons tried to encourage her, they learned what it means to give good gifts—to be eleven-foot-four on the inside."
5 stars
This beautiful Christmas memory translates into a touching and poignant story with illustrations in a style similar to The Polar Express. A great addition to a traditional Christmas library.
Note: there seems to be several versions of this book, one is a novella of about 90 pages and the other a children's picture book of 30 pages.
December 2021
From the back cover:
"Mother was only four-foot-eleven-inches on the outside, but when she was at her best she stood eleven-foot-four on the inside. And every Christmas she was at her best. Mother would carefully decorate a twelve-foot Christmas tree and load extravagant presents beneath its branches, and the magic of the holiday would begin. . . . Then one year everything changed. Mother cried on Christmas. As her sons tried to encourage her, they learned what it means to give good gifts—to be eleven-foot-four on the inside."
5 stars
October 9, 2009
94 pages...small pages and relatively large print made this a quick read.
A good Christmas story, nice gift idea.
I gave it only 2 stars because the storyline was very simple when the author could've given us a lot more substance. Chapter 4: "Something happened...during the summer of 1962...I'm not going to tell you what it was."
That "something" completely changed the author's life & that of his family. The drama that occurred then is responsible for what made this book sound interesting in the first place - a mother's struggle to keep Christmas alive for her children in the face of large obstacles. Then the author decided not to show us the obstacles. Seeing that drama unfold would've made for a much more interesting story.
This book is good for readers who just want a short & sweet holiday story, a feel-good story.
A good Christmas story, nice gift idea.
I gave it only 2 stars because the storyline was very simple when the author could've given us a lot more substance. Chapter 4: "Something happened...during the summer of 1962...I'm not going to tell you what it was."
That "something" completely changed the author's life & that of his family. The drama that occurred then is responsible for what made this book sound interesting in the first place - a mother's struggle to keep Christmas alive for her children in the face of large obstacles. Then the author decided not to show us the obstacles. Seeing that drama unfold would've made for a much more interesting story.
This book is good for readers who just want a short & sweet holiday story, a feel-good story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2018
This book is good for grades k-2, 3-4. but older grades can read it by themselves but younger grades will have to have it read to them. This book is good because it gives a very important lesson about giving gifts. It may not be appropriate for school because it mentions God and some parents will not like that. The genre is Contemporary realistic.
November 26, 2013
There must be something wrong with my Kindle version because parts that I read about in other reviews were not in my version. In fact, it took me all of about 10 minutes to read it. It was like reading a children's book with lots of pictures. There were parts where the print was so small I couldn't read it and my Kindle wouldn't enlarge it! My curiosity is up, though, and I'd like to read what others seem to have read!
December 24, 2013
I'm probably a biased reviewer since Dr. Jerry Camery-Hoggatt taught two of my favorite classes in college. One of them was a narrative communication course where we learned to weave and tell a good story, and Dr. Camery-Hoggatt was one of the best. When I read this novella I could picture him telling the story, which made it all the more rich. Loved it, especially since I read it December 23rd and it is a Christmas tale. I hope we will see more of his stories make their way to print.
December 7, 2012
When mother and father have different ideas about Christmas gift giving, and both options have some merit, things can get complicated. This was the case in the authors family. The story was very interesting, but it was too short, and there were some events thst were hinted at which could have enhanced the story if they were expanded on. It does not take long to read, so I am glad I did.
January 5, 2013
It is charming and heartfelt. It is also too brief, more of a short story or personal essay. In addition, the author avoids a difficult subject matter by essentially saying "something terrible happened but I am not going to tell you what it is because it is not germane to the story" ... only leaves the reader feeling deprived and dissatisfied.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews