An Orange for Frankie
This heartwarming story about family love and giving is based on author and illustrator Patricia Polacco’s own family. This Christmas picture book is set in the Depression. Times are hard for Frankie’s family. He is one of nine children. Despite the fact that the family has little, Frankie’s parents always have something for the hoboes who ride the trains from town to town seeking food and shelter. Frankie also tries to help. Without telling his family, he gives a hobo who doesn’t have warm clothes for the cold winter weather the hand knit sweater his sister gave him the previous Christmas.It’s a holiday tradition in Frankie’s family that Pa always provides nine oranges, one for each child, for Christmas. Pa has left to get the oranges and the children are worried that bad weather will keep him away. Thanks to the kindness of a railroad man, Pa gets home with the oranges, which the children are not to touch until Christmas. The heart of the story is how Frankie’s family responds when the boy accidentally loses his orange before they are even given out. This story is both longer and has more substance than many Christmas books. I recommend it for eight- to twelve-year-olds. (Philomel Books, A Division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2004. ISBN: 9780399243028) Compare prices.
