Orem Library

"Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy." So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.

Tells, in rhyme, of the year that Santa Claus, suffering from a cold and other ailments, decides to take a vacation at Christmastime, and of the surprising response of children around the world.

When the aroma of Omu's homemade stew fills the air, her neighbors arrive, one by one, for a taste until all is gone except for her generous spirit.

On Christmas Eve, Thomas buys a magical candle that changes the way he views his fellow human beings and helps him feel charity for those less fortunate than he.

Jeremy, who longs to have the black high tops that everyone at school seems to have but his grandmother cannot afford, is excited when he sees them for sale in a thrift shop and decides to buy them even though they are the wrong size.

While attending a yard sale, Pinkalicious finds all kinds of great items, but the one she finally chooses is not for her.

When a generous quiltmaker finally agrees to make a quilt for a greedy king but only under certain conditions, she causes him to undergo a change of heart.

A servant of the Watermaster, a kind man who gives water freely to the thirsty people of a desert village, tries to restrict his gift by imposing his own terms on it.

A tale with roots in an ancient Jewish folk tale from Spain, in which Benny's Grandpa explains that God should be thanked for the wonderful bagels they make in his bakery.

When a snowman who thinks he is perfect encounters a hungry rabbit, a lonely cat, and a cold little girl, he learns from the three of them that being special is not about what is on the outside, but about who someone is inside.