The calf, the piglet, the foal and the sheepdog were all born in spring, so everything about December is brand new to them. Snowflakes are new. Ice is new. The tree that comes indoors and then lights up is very new. They watch the farm family carry it in, and on Christmas morning there is a surprise waiting that makes the whole strange business make sense.

This is the quiet one on the shelf, and quiet is the point. Sixteen pages, a gentle landscape format that sits open across a lap, and Katya Longhi's snow scenes doing most of the talking. It is written for the child who is also meeting Christmas for the first or second time, and it reads in about the length of a bedtime attention span.

Written by Holly Berry-Byrd, printed in the United States, and a natural gift for a baby's first Christmas.