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Booklist, February 15, 2006
Mr.
Christmas. 2005. 56min. Baker & Taylor, DVD, $14.98
(0-9773287-0-8). 800-775-2600.
Gr. 3–5. Not released in time
for review prior to the 2005 Christmas season, this is a
sweet family drama with a surprising twist. The setting is a small
town in
Arkansas
in 1941. Scenes at home, in a train station, on the street, and other
locales are representative of the era as are the authentic home
furnishings and accessories. Joel is the sole breadwinner in a family of
four. Joel’s efforts to realize his eldest daughter’s dream of a
bicycle for Christmas add to his wife’s anger over their money woes.
While the sense of time is somewhat confusing, beginning on Christmas Eve,
jumping back to "earlier in the fall", and then fast forwarding
to the Christmas season, the drama is ultimately uplifting and might even
provide the opportunity to discuss “life back then” when a $25 bank
loan was sizeable indeed. Suggested where holiday stories are in demand.
—Edie Ching
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