The Most Beautiful Gift: A Christmas Story

by Jonathan Snow

Snow! Seven-year-old Mark is entranced by it! Could the snow be coming from a snow machine in the sky? Quick as you please, Mark runs outside to see. As he looks up, a tiny snowflake drifts onto his nose. It is so pretty that it must be ... The Most Beautiful Gift.
This is the wondrous tale of Mark and his snowflake. As he handles the delicate flake with extreme care, Mark is amazed by its exquisitely lacy shape. Then and there, he decides to give it to the kindest person he can find; a gift for someone who deserves it.
First Mark takes it to a businessman, who wants to dissect it so that he can sell the pieces for profit. Then he takes it to a doctor, but the doctor wants to cut it up to for scientific reasons. And so Mark turns elsewhere. In his quest to do right by the snowflake, he will discover some amazing things about its magical spirit ... and about the true value and meaning of Christmas.
Enchantingly told, this charming book is the perfect holiday a heartwarming fable for all ages to be treasured by young and old - parents, children, and friends alike.

Genres: Christmas, Holiday, Fiction

87 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Jonathan Snow is a pen name of Giovanni Arduino.

Reviews

[Giada]

Romanzo tenero e dolce che infonde nei lettori un po' dello spirito natalizio . La storia è molta corta, lo stile semplice e lineare; ma il tutto è incorniciato da un'atmosfera magica, quasi fatata.
Un libro che vi conquisterà con la sua delicatezza e lascerà tanto su cui riflettere.

[Ruth E.]

Definitely not realistic since snowflakes melt and this one seemed to last and last. Seemed like a children's book; it would have made a nice picture book. I liked the stories Grampa Gus told, but it was just an okay book.

[Greg]

A moderately interesting Christmas tale, sweet and unassuming. It would be a good one to read to small children in the days before Christmas. It's a short book...I read it in less than two hours.

A small child encountering his first snowflake up close, with its dazzling and intricate crystalline structure, wants to preserve it to give to the "best person in the whole world." A few encounters ensue with people the boy admires, but who seem not to understand the magic of Christmas and snowflakes. In the end, it is his Grandfather who finally seems to understand, and his stories about the origination of snow and what is really important in life bring the book to a close in a satisfying way.

[Dee Toomey]

This very short story about a boy who tries to save a snowflake to give as a gift to someone deserving the flake was okay as far as it went. I kept waiting for the moral of the story to emerge, and in the end when it did, it wasn't the moral I thought it would be. I think more could have been made of this story. It is what I would refer to as a surface story, or the start of a story. It feels to me like it wasn't finished or needs more work. Nevertheless, it is a cute story for children, and is a quick read, so for me not a waste of time.

[Nancy Brady]

3.5 stars actually--this is a cute Christmas tale about a boy named Mark who delights in a snowflake. He catches one and wishes to give it to a deserving person as a gift. His Gramps understands and tells him a few stories that enhances his joy.

[Ruth]

It was a horrible mismatched book. Thank goodness it was only 84 pages and a small size. That's what I get for finding books as I shelve them at work!

[Victoria]

about a little boy who catches a snowflake and tries to find someone worthy of it as a gift.

[Gloria Finocchi]

Piccolo libro natalizio per bambini. Non particolarmente degno di nota.

[Ginger]

Cute!