illustrated by Judith Brown

It was the day before Christmas in a small Russian village. Alexi's babushka was telling him what Christmas was like when she was a girl - before the soldiers came. "Our church was as crowded as a pod full of peas. Candles made the church as bright as the sunniest day. Watching over us was the blessed icon of St. Nicholas." And so unfolds a story that poignantly reveals how, though quiet and hidden, faith and hope cannot be suppressed, by soldiers or by time.

31 pp. Hardcover