Christmas Time

by Rachel Field

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1941

About the author

Rachel Lyman Field was an American novelist, poet, and author of children's fiction. She is best known for her Newbery Medal–winning novel for young adults, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years , published in 1929.

As a child Field contributed to the St. Nicholas Magazine and was educated at Radcliffe College. Her book, Prayer for a Child, was a recipient of the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations by Elizabeth Orton Jones. According to Ruth Hill Vigeurs in her introduction to Calico Bush , book of Rachel Field for children, published in 1931, Rachel Field was "fifteen when she first visited Maine and fell under the spell of its 'island-scattered coast'. Calico Bush still stands out as a near-perfect re-creation of people and place in a story of courage, understated and beautiful." Field was also a successful author of adult fiction, writing the bestsellers Time Out of Mind (1935), All This and Heaven Too (1938), and And Now Tomorrow (1942). She is also famous for her poem-turned-song "Something Told the Wild Geese". Field also wrote the English lyrics for the version of Franz Schubert's Ave Maria used in the Disney film Fantasia. Field married Arthur S. Pederson in 1935, with whom she collaborated in 1937 on To See Ourselves.

Field was a descendant of David Dudley Field. She died at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California on March 15, 1942 of pneumonia following an operation.

Reviews

[Carlos West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any age, 3rd grade and above will enjoy these short, wide ranging Christmas poems. And what a wonderful job Rachel does with the illustrations, only one of which is in color. Small book(5 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches and 32 pages) and apparently never reprinted. Some of the poems appeared previously in periodicals and in some of Rachel’s earlier books. One, The Bells, was revised for this book(probably in connection with World War 2). Some of the topics used: trains, boats, and the legend of the animals at the 1st Christmas as well as a pre and post Christmas poem. One poem was written for the author’s daughter but could really be read to any son or daughter. Of course the Holy Family is used frequently as subject matter. The author is a Newberry Medal winner and has had some of her novels adapted to movies. Less than 90 libraries have this book(perhaps due to the small size) but it shouldn’t be too difficult to buy a used copy.