Description

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"Newbery Medalist DiCamillo spins a tale of compassion and holiday warmth." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A New York Times Bestseller
A Time Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year
Four starred reviews (Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal)

It is just before Christmas when an organ grinder and monkey appear on the street outside Frances’s apartment. When it’s quiet she can hear their music, and when she looks out her window at midnight, she sees them sleeping outside. Finally the day of the Christmas pageant arrives, but when it’s Frances’s turn to speak, all she can think about is the organ grinder’s sad eyes — until a door opens just in time, and she finds the perfect words to share. With this luminous tale, Kate DiCamillo pairs with Bagram Ibatoulline to offer a timeless holiday gift.

About the Author

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Kate DiCamillo is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Magician’s Elephant; The Tale of Despereaux, which was awarded the Newbery Medal; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, winner of a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Because of Winn-Dixie, a Newbery Honor Book; The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award Finalist; and six books starring Mercy Watson, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride. She lives in Minneapolis.

Bagram Ibatoulline is the illustrator of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, as well as On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells; Thumbelina retold by Brian Alderson; The Animal Hedge by Paul Fleischman; Hans Christian Andersen’s The Tinderbox and The Nightingale, both retold by Stephen Mitchell; The Serpent Came to Gloucester by M. T. Anderson; and Hana in the Time of the Tulips by Deborah Noyes. He lives in Pennsylvania.