The Giving Flower: The Story of the Poinsettia by Alda P. Dobbs, illustrated by Emily Mendoza (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 40 pages, grades K-3, published simultaneously in Spanish as La flor generosa: la historia de la flor de nochebuena). Did you know that the red parts of the poinsettia plant are actually leaves, with the tiny yellow flowers nestled in the center? Read on to learn other interesting facts about this plant that we often associate with the Christmas season. Indigenous Mexican people used it for medicines and dyes. Spanish friars made up a story about a poor girl named Pepita bringing the flower known in Mexico as la flor de nochebuena as a gift to baby Jesus. In the 19th century, amateur botanist and ambassador to the newly independent Mexico Joel Roberts Poinsett brought the flower to the U.S. where it got a new name inspired by Poinsett. 100 years later, a man named Paul Ecke figured out how to make the plants hardier and smaller. Ecke’s son started a marketing campaign to get pots of poinsettias on TV shows and into the White House, and by the mid 20th century, they started to be known as the Christmas flower, a tradition that continues today. Includes a history and timeline of the poinsettia.

This is a fascinating history of the poinsettia plant, which weaves in a lot of the history of Mexico as well.  I had no idea that those big red flowers aren’t flowers at all, and I also didn’t realize that the connection with Christmas was so recent, nor did I know that it was the result of a well-orchestrated marketing campaign! This would make a great read-aloud and a nice way to fit a little nonfiction into the holiday book offerings.

The 13th Day of Christmas by Adam Rex (Neal Porter Books, 48 pages, grades K-4).  The narrator’s feeling lonely at Christmas because his true love is visiting her parents. So he’s happy when she sends him a pear tree. He’s not as thrilled with the partridge that comes with it, though, and when another pear tree with three more birds appears the next day, he’s even less excited. Before long his house is crammed with drummers, pipers, maids, cows, and lots of birds. He visits his mom to see if she has any advice (she doesn’t), and on the way home an impromptu parade forms with all his new friends. When a kid watching the parade mentions that his school could use some new books, everyone springs into action the next day and puts together a bake sale (there’s no shortage of milk and eggs).  The man enjoys helping the school so much, he begins to suspect his true love, Trudy, wanted him to learn the joy of giving to others. When she finally gets home, it turns out that the whole thing was an Internet glitch in Trudy’s pear tree order. Trudy proposes marriage, and the new friends go home, leaving the couple as happy as two turtledoves.

It’s hard to really do justice to this hilarious book in a review, but trust me when I say that anyone familiar with The Twelve Days Of Christmas will find this a riot, both the story and the illustrations. To be honest, I think anyone would enjoy it, but knowing the song makes it that much better, not only seeing all the verses come to life, but also appreciating a few countdowns in the story that are riffs on the original.