A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn - Hardcover

Crocitto, Frank; Kane-Horrigan, Grady

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0967755824 ISBN 13: 9780967755823

Publisher: Candlepower, 2001

Synopsis

A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN BROOKLYN is the poetic tale of author Frank Crocitto's childhood growing up in Brooklyn in the 1940's.

Reminiscent of Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales," the book poignantly captures the true spirit of the Christmas season reflected in the traditions of a large Italian-American family and the love and respect that binds it together.

Crocitto's story begins just prior to Christmas, as the anticipation begins to mount for the 'big day.' The holiday season officially commences as school lets out for the holiday. Snow begins to blanket the streets of Crocitto's 81st Street. The colorful house lights are brought out and hung with Grandpa. As Grandma mobilizes her tyrannical reign in the kitchen to prepare for the ultimate holiday meal, there are snowball fights with "the gang," and there is the search to find the perfect tree with Mom and Dad.

As the family traditions are carried on, the night before Christmas brings a life-changing encounter with Santa Claus. Christmas Day culminates in present-opening, church-going, raucous family bingo games, dancing in the parlor and the profound realization of just how fortunate one boy can be.

Grady Kane-Horrigan's sepia-toned illustrations are the perfect complement, each one providing an snapshot of Crocitto's finely written details: a wreath on frozen fence post, a snake-like tangle of lights, the twinkle in Santa's eye.

A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN BROOKLYN brings you into the family, and Crocitto's warmhearted Christmas memories of a sweeter, simpler time will resonate with readers of all ages.

About this title

About the Author

Described as a zealous scholar of the great American Transcendentalists – Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman – Frank Crocitto has devoted his life to the pursuit of practical wisdom—through systems of self-development and service to others.

Mr. Crocitto has been an actor, a milkman, an attendant in a mental hospital, a teacher of subjects as diverse as English composition, Algebra and flute making, and a barber in a hippie commune. Through it all he has been an inspiring educator. He has taught in the public school system, in a Waldorf school, at Pace College, the State University of New York in New Paltz, and in the school he founded, Discovery Institute, which has branches in New Paltz, NY, San Diego and Santa Fe.

In addition to A Child’s Christmas in Brooklyn, Mr. Crocitto is the author of HOORAY FOR LOVE, and INSIGHT IS BETTER THAN ICE CREAM, as well as numerous stage plays, including an adaptation of Stephen Crane’s THE BRIDE COMES TO YELLOW SKY. In 1999, he recorded the spoken word album RUMI IS ALIVE with pianist Melanie Monsour. He is also the editor of the journals of Henry David Thoreau for the Hyperion edition of photographer John Dugdale’s book, NEW SUNS WILL ARISE, which was named "One of the Best Books for Teens 2001" by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Mr. Crocitto has been a featured speaker at the Chopra Center for Well Being and is currently working on a new series of books. He is also speaking around the country on a variety of topics ranging from ecstatic poetry to the practical values of befriending man’s best friend -- in his case, a Schnauzer named Sparkplug.

Reviews

Christmas enthusiasts young and old will enjoy Frank Crocitto's nostalgic, near-magic realist take on Christmas in the hazy recesses of the mid-20th century, A Child's Christmas in Brooklyn. Evoking the breathless, wide-eyed wonder of childhood, Crocitto (Insight Is Better Than Ice Cream) describes the interminable wait throughout the fall, homework in November, parents and grandparents' delightfully suspicious preholiday behaviors and the incomprehensibly somber Christmas Eve service. While it offers little new in terms of holiday spirit (following in the stylistic and thematic footsteps of A Christmas Story, though less comical), readers will be pleased by the classic, cozy quality of this reminiscence. Illus.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"He was in my house! Santa Claus himself was, yes, in my own house! I had surprised him! I might have met him and talked to him and, yes, been granted what no other boy or girl had ever been granted in the history of the world."

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlepower
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0967755824
• ISBN 13: 9780967755823
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96