Holiday reading provides tradition
Book explores Christmas in Cape Breton through stories, memories
In what started as a collection of memories and stories has in itself become a tradition as Breton Books prepares to release its fourth book of Cape Breton Christmas stories.
“Cape Breton’s Christmas, Book 4” will be officially launched on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the McConnell Library in Sydney. Publisher Ron Caplan says putting this collection together was at first a little nerve-racking and he spent much of the past summer encouraging people to send in their Christmas stories so he’d have enough to work with.
“You make the dive based on faith that stories will come in,” said Caplan. “But you really don’t know whether there is any water in the pool below. You wonder whether enough stories will come in.”
In the end, plenty of stories and memories arrived and 53 of those are in this book.
There’s a wide variety with Sandra Dunn writing about the talking Christmas tree while Roohina Baptist shares memories
“You make the dive based on faith that stories will come in. But you really don’t know whether there is any water in the pool below. You wonder whether enough stories will come in.”
Publisher Ron Caplan
of Christmas in Pakistan. Jitka Zgola provides the touching tale of a beautiful little girl that a childless couple created out of snow.
From a mouse in the Christmas tree to the birth of the L’Arche community to Paul Patterson’s beautifully told reminder of Christmas in wartime Cape Breton, “Cape Breton’s Christmas, Book 4” is packed with holiday reading.
Royalties from the sales of this book will be donated to Feed Nova Scotia.
Many of the stories in Cape Breton’s Christmas will be read by their authors at the McConnell launch party. There will be punch and cookies.
There is no charge for the event but copies of the book will be available for sale.