The Legend of the Candy Cane

by Lori Walburg, James Bernardin (Illustrator)

One dark November night a stranger rides into a small prairie town. Who is he? Why has he come? The townspeople wish he were a doctor, a dressmaker, or a trader. But the children have the greatest wish of all, a deep, quiet, secret wish. Then a young girl named Lucy befriends the newcomer. When he reveals his identity and shares with her the legend of the candy cane, she discovers fulfillment of her wishes and the answer to her town's dreams. Now will she share what she has learned? Warm, lavish illustrations by James Bernardin bring to life a timeless tale by Lori Walburg, a story that will help families celebrate the mystery and miracle of Christmas―for many Christmases to come.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Christian, Fiction, Inspirational

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 1997

About the author

Lori Walburg attended Dordt College and graduated from Calvin College and the University of Iowa. Lori is the author of the bestselling The Legend of the Candy Cane and The Legend of the Easter Egg. She lives with her husband and two children in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The colorful, breathtaking illustrations greatly add to this wonderful (Christian) legend of the candy cane. This may become a favorite read for families during the Christmas season!

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Legend of the Candy Cane, with its religious theme, is a perfect read for the Christmas season. Children will be enthralled by the candy store and will delight in learning more about a popular Christmas treat. A nice family read reflecting the true meaning of the season.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super cute and delicious story of a candy store coming to a small village and the creation of the candy cane.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story with beautifully detailed illustrations. This is a very nice Christmas read and children will enjoy the scenes in the sweetshop. Funnily enough I read about the history of the candy cane a few weeks ago and it was interesting to read about this same potential origin in the back pages. A good Christmas picture book with some interesting history.

Read on open library.

[Amy Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truthfully, this is not a five-star book. I keep five stars for Shakespeare, Homer, Jane Austen and the like. But when your teenage daughter brings this book to you near bedtime, snuggles up on the couch next to you, rests her head on your shoulder and says, "Mom, this is my favorite Christmas book. Would you read it to me?", then you feel like giving it five stars.

[Heidi]

One of the little man's most favorite Christmas books and one I love reading to him, too. Even if I did start to memorize a lot of it!

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the illustrations. It's like a beautiful dream. I do not know much about the religious background the story is based on towards the end of the story but yes, a good read.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautifully illustrated book describing the Christian symbolism in the candy cane.

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet interesting book The Legend of the Candy Cane is even though is geared for toddlers, it kept the attention of my nine year old. The book is made of hard cardboard, and great for little hands to carry around.
The book is beautifully illustrated with bright colors, and the children noticed the dog and cat in the pictures. The boys wished they could be Lucy and help unpack all that candy; a child’s dream comes true.
When it came time to tell the legend of the Candy Cane, they were enthralled at the story, and sad about Jesus blood being represented by the red and white stripe. They have looked this book over and over, and are able to read a lot of the words themselves. This one is a real keeper for the Christmas Season, right on our coffee table.

I received this book from Booklook Bloggers of Harper Collins Christian Book Publishers, and was not required to give a positive review.

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

2018: this is a highly recommended book. It is important to us to read it each year. It has a Christ-centered focus.

I love this book. We read it each year for our Christmas advent.

[Sarah Rhomberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this one! <3

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of the birth of a candy cane.

[Macey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this every year at Christmas. So way too many times.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite

[ThePrill]

This book was so central to childhood Christmases. The illustrations are beyond incredible, almost magical for a young child, and I can remember distinctly going back over the pages just to see the stunning artwork again, even if I wasn't reading it.

[Lynne Vanderveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Legend of the Candy Cane is one of those Christmas books that I will love having out on my coffee table (which may be a little loaded down if I don't stop buying). The illustrations are beautiful. The story of the young girl, Lucy, helping Mr. Sonneman, the new neighbor, get his business ready to open is sweet, but I thought there were a couple issues. One is that Walburg talks about how the whole town wonders about this man and what he is doing, but no one talks to him except this little girl. I thought that was a great jumping-off point for a valuable lesson, but it was never mentioned again. The other element that I wasn't in love with was the whole purpose of the book (at least according to the title). The story of the man opening the store and his helper led to the telling of the legend of the candy cane - of course...after all it is the title of the book. However, the legend of how the candy cane came to be used for a Christmas treat is a bit heavy-handed within the story. The wording was too adult focused. It needed to be integrated within the actual story of Lucy and Mr. Sonneman for children to really enjoy it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My in-laws gave this book to our boys for Christmas 1999 and we read it several times each Advent and Christmas season while they were growing up. Now that they are adults and living on their own, I still read this book every year as part of my holiday traditions along side watching A Christmas Carol and others.

[Chandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love the story about the candy cane itself, I was extremely apprehensive reading it to my daughter. The story has a little girl hanging out in a candy store. With a man. A lot. Alone. No way! Back to the library it went!

[The Literature Ladies · Rating 5 out of 5]

We at The Literature Ladies cherish this story for both the childhood memory it is to us and for the bigger story it tells: our hope is found in the blood of Jesus, who came to earth as a baby and died on a cross to reunite us before God. To us, that reunion and restoration is the very best Christmas gift of all.

Read more on our blog!

[Lacy | literary_lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was cute! It was longer than I expected, but a cute story about the beginning of the candy cane. It is a religious story, so that definitely is a big deal for some people when choosing to read books. If you are really religious, you will probably love this book for your kids. If you aren’t very religious or are not religious at all, you might want to skip this one.

[Brittany Centanni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up not realizing this would be a religious Christmas book. Though we are not a religious family, I have no issue with the occasional religious Christmas story. This one certainly caught me off guard though. The intensity in some of the descriptions of what happened to Jesus seemed to be a bit much for a children's picture book. I did enjoy the illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, this year was the first year I didn't receive or buy any candy canes. In spite of this, my youngest son and I (and some of my other sons) enjoyed reading the legend behind this Christmas treat, as well as some of the factual history.

[Christy Broderick⁷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting children’s story about the history of the candy cane. If you ever want to learn how candy canes are made, YouTube it - what a cool process!

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Christmas books to read to my kids every year. 🥰

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

We like to read this book each year at Christmas 💚 I see that there’s a few different versions now, but the one that uses James Bernardin’s illustrations is definitely the best (imho 😉) ❤️

[Kayla Tande · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family favorite about Christ and the candy cane.

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute children's book with really good illustrations!

[Shelly Chesser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book years ago. I LOVE this book! We "decorate" with it every year at Christmas time. Wish I could find some more prints of it to give to my children who are no longer living at home.

[Nicole Felten Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the candy cane: what the “J” shape stands for, what the staff shape represents, and what the red and white colors on it mean. It was very short and sweet! :)

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The original version is my favorite: the illustrations by James Bernardin are much nicer (a more realistic painting style than the newer version's that are quite caricatuted with too-big heads!).