Christmastime and the Newbery Medal seem an almost irresistible combination. For what better time than Christmas, that most family-oriented of holidays, to read stories written by authors honored as winners of the John Newbery Medal for their contributions to literature for children? This collection comprises stories by authors today's children know and love, from E.L. Konigsburg and Nancy Willard to Beverly Cleary. It also contains stories by writers familiar to their parents, and perhaps, to their grandparents, from Ruth Sawyer and Rachel Field to Lois Lenski, Eleanor Estes, and Madeleine L'Engle.

Some of these stories are humorous. Children will laugh at the antics of Ramona Quimby in "Ramona, the Sheep Suit, and the Three Wise Persons" and at Eliot Miles's Christmas wish in E.L. Konigsburg's "Eliot Miles Does Not Wish You a Merry Christmas Because..." Others of the collection recall the Christmases of years past, as in "Once in the Year" by Elizabeth Yates and "The Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes. And others, like Madeleine L'Engle's "A Full House," remind us again of the true meaning of Christmas.

This is a collection to savor and to read aloud. It's a book that can be read by the fire, on the beach, in the car on the way to Grandmother's house, or on any available lap. Most of all, it's a book for sharing and for celebrating the joys of Christmas.

A portion of the royalties from this book will be donated to the American Library Association, administrators of the John Newbery Medal.

From the dust jacket