A few days ago I told you about the discarded library books at the college where I work. Today I’m giving away another one of those books – The Christmas Barn written by C.L.Davis. The book is set in the 1930s.
In the first few pages you discover one of the characters is named Frank Dockery. As I was reading the passage where his name appears I thought “Hmph I’ve heard that name before right here.” A few paragraphs later I discovered the family goes into Murphy to purchase supplies they can’t produce on their farm. I couldn’t believe it! The book was about my very own county.
Turns out C.L. Davis wrote the book about his mother’s memories of a childhood Christmas.
The story is perfect for Christmas and the characters are so real I felt like I knew them, especially the two youngest sisters. I loved the book so much I wanted to share the story with you, but I also wanted to keep it for myself. So I bought another one so I can do both!
The giveaway book doesn’t have a dust jacket but it will come with one of Granny’s crocheted toboggan ornaments and a canvas stocking. Leave a comment on this post to be entered in the drawing. Giveaway ends *Friday December 1.
Tipper
Tipper, what a joy it would be to have the book, especially with your story and Granny’s toboggan ornament. Just watch some yankee win it and then put the toboggan ornament on a sled. One of my best friends is from Canton, NY, and he insists on calling a toboggan a sled and not a cap!
What a wonderful Christmas present. You have a heart of gold! I would love to read the story if how your community celebrated Christmas in the 30’s. I wonder if we can find the book for sale, if we are not fortunate to be the winner of your gifts!
Oh, I love the sound of this story. It has my curiosity up! I wonder if it talks about the animals in the barn at Christmas time? I must see if I can find a copy of this book.
What a lovely sounding book. It reminds me of one I used to read to my daughter. I had borrowed it from the library and have since tried to find it. I was called THE APPLE TREE CHRISTMAS. If you or any of your readers knows where I could find a copy of that book, please let me know. Reading books to my daughter was always a very special and holds many memories. I would love to own this book.
Thankful for Blind Pig and the Acorn family and friends.
Tipper, what wonderful memories of Christmas in the Mountains……..sounds like a wonderful book.
Thank you for all you do, I so enjoy your Blog and look forward to it daily. It’s funny when people ask
“what is a toboggan”
What fun!
Thanksgiving has waddled on by and Christmas is fast on her heels. I wish all the best this Holliday season has to shower upon you and yours.
Thank you for making my days happier.
I would love to win this book. Reading of past times and customs is my favorite past time. Hope this is where I enter the contest
Dear Tipper, that looks like a great book.
I’d live this book.
I love the area and was just there for a few days.
Please put me in for the giveaway !
Sorry I got here late. There was an accident on the internet and traffic got backed up. I think a truck load of terabytes turned over. There was not enough bandwidth left to get through.
The thing you are called a boggan pronounced /bau-gin/. Some call it a /tow-boggan/
I’ve never seen a canvas stocking before. I would love to own one. The boggan and the book are just icing on the cake.
my family too was from Cherokee Co. but most moved to the piedmont of N. C. to get work. I still have family in Shoal Creek area, near fields of the woods, I love my state, I love my roots, I would be so grateful to win this book for my 6 year old great grandson who I am teaching our family history to.
I love your columns. thank you for all you do.
You know CHRISTmas is always a special time of year. Finding such a treasure is simply awesome. I love a good read, especially one from my home town or area. I always loved to listen to my elders tell stories of their CHRISTmas past. I have so many sweet memories from listening to my parents… GOD bless you all at the Blind Pig and the Acorn, and I pray you all have the most wonderful and Merriest CHRISTmas ever.
I’d be happy to read this book. I love children’s picture books. And from this area too!
Thanks, Amanda Burts
I love Christmas stories and I’m always looking for something different to read to my grandchildren. This sounds like a very special book. Have a blessed Christmas season!
would love to win!
It is funny how warm and cozy and in the holiday spirit seeing this children’s book made me feel. It looks like a sweet story. I don’t think that there is anything better than sharing books with children during Christmas time. One of my all time favorites is The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston. It is a lovely tale set in the NC mountains just after WWI. Another holiday favorite is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowsk. The illustrations by Patrick Lynch of the wood carver and the nativity he creates are so beautiful! I read it every year when I set up my Brasstown carvings. Happy Christmas!
Daddy built our barn for a milk cow when I was a little girl and it still stands today. I don’t have a cow in it now, but I have fond memories of watching my Mama milk our cow, Bullet. No one could milk that cow but Mama and I remember the time she was so sick with the flu that she could barely stand up. Daddy held her up and got her down to the barn that morning and again that night to do the milking. Now that I am older and wiser, I think Daddy just didn’t want to milk the cow!
I love old barns and I am glad there is a group that has started trying to preserve them. They are so rich in history and played a huge role in the culture of this region. I think this book would bring back a lot of memories for me, so I hope I win it!
Oh hos I would love to read this book and then pass it along to my little grand-daughter Ruby. Her great grandfather is from Cherokee County, what a treasure this would be. I’m sure she would use Granny’s little ornament for one of her baby dolls. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Florida to visit our family and had such a great time! I was so busy before we went making Christmas gifts to take with us.
Thank you for the chance to win your wonderful giveaway!
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
Thank you for your generosity with the give always during the holidays. If I were to win this special book I would gift it to my “southern” great nieces whose Mom took them to upstate New York to share them with her husband’s family.
Always interesting to see or hear of something that occurred near where were live or once did isn’t it.
God bless.
RB
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That’s my kind of title. Would love to read it. Today books don’t hold a candle to the old stories.
Tipper,
Put my number in the hat! I could look at and read this book just for the graphics on the dust jacket! Kind of reminds me of your house where the porch is facing the chicken house…at least what I’ve seen in your photos….The fact that there is a smiling girl with a neck scarf also reminds me of the girls and you…and we all know you ‘all love lots of snow and it sure is snowing in the design of the book cover.
Raining here today…but weather forecasters are predicting some snow in a week or so!
Thanks Tipper,
I’d love that book to read to my 21 grandkids!
Tipper, I love ‘Old Time’ traditional Christmas stories and would love to read the book to young children in a local school. Thank you for all your efforts and enthusiasm.
This looks like a great book, I would love to read it! My family has roots near this area!
What a neat surprise to find a story written in your own hometown! Sounds like an awesome story too! And what a sweet little boggan your granny knitted.
Have a Merry Christmas in the mountains! Perhaps you can interview your own granny too and write some stories for future generations to find! :-).
I would love to win this book and Granny’s crocheted ornament and canvas stocking, but if I don’t win, I’m happy that it is available at BookFinders. Thank you, Tipper. I have enjoyed you and your family for many years now. Love to you all.
hiya tipper
I would love a chance on your beautiful giveaway…..especially a chance to get something granny made..i treasure handmade things…and a book…would love to snuggle under a quilt and read a good book….
blessings to you and yours
big ladybug hugs
lynn
William-thank you for the comment! Use this book search site to find a copy: https://www.bookfinder.com/
I was blessed to grow up in beautiful Andrews, NC. My family shares a deep love for our mountain heritage even though we are scattered over the world. I was a lonely only child who GOD has abundantly blessed with large family. 29 ( twenty-nine) GreatGrandchildren. 54 kin now..from our marriage of 70 years! We are Readers, big time, and would love this book about my Cherokee County. A cousin in Hayesville put us in touch with your wonderful site. Grateful! Delightful! Have a Merry Christmas.
Tipper,
Like so many others, The Christmas Barn would be a Special read. I try to comment every day, if this thing will co-operate better. Love the Blind Pig and all the commenters. …Ken
Thanks for the opportunity to win the book Tipper! I’m ‘doing Christmas’ a little different this year–trying to simplify and enjoy the Reason for the Season–Jesus!!
The book sounds great. Perhaps it will be what I need to interest my Grandchildren in my mom’s birthplace (Bryson City, NC). Her maiden name was Fuller.
I love Christmas books and one growing up in the mountains would be the best. Hope you are enjoying this wonderful time of year.
My mother grew up in Roseboro, NC, as she called it, “at the foot of Grandfather Mountain.” Her blended family was worse than dirt-poor. Mama’s mother died when my mother was 7, and she was left to help raise her sister and two brothers. If they got an orange or tangerine or a few nuts in the shell they were thrilled. There were many times that I am sure they had no Christmas. That is why I think my mother always made Christmas so special for me and my dad. She was thankful for small things and reflected that in her appreciation for hand-made and well-thought-out gifts. It wasn’t the size or cost of the gift but the sentiment and caring behind it that made her happy. She would have loved this book.
Love your web page.
I live near the foothills to the Appalachian, but I so enjoy the stories and experiences you share regarding your home and the people you share the mountains with.
Keep up the good work, so many folks get so much joy from it…
I was raised on a farm and have so many great memories of it especially at Christmas time. Love your website and your music. Would love to be able to read the book and treasure it every Christmas.
Sounds exactly like the kind of Christmas my mom remembered. My own childhood memories of Christmas were so simple and filled with magic. I recall when a simple coloring book given out at church was wrapped in Christmas tissue paper and tied with ribbons on each end. It seemed like the greatest gift. Later I noticed my Mother always wrapped smaller gift that same way! What a pleasure it would be to read a book about a simple ole fashioned Christmas.
That looks like a wonderful book – I love old timey stories from the past…..
A sign of our times, that libraries have too many books. In 1930, I’ll bet that if there was even a local library, they were wishing for more books to lend. This especially true of small rural libraries. Our little village had some local women who started a “library” in a room of the local town hall. It was very limited, but all that was available until the state started a bookmobile that traveled around the state to smaller communities. This was wonderful. Now the bookmobile is a thing of the past and we must travel about 15 miles to find the nearest library.
I have noticed that quite often library hours are often cut back when the city/community is in a budget crunch. In my thinking, the library is the place that opens the world to all, whether rich or poor. It enlightens, gives hope, bring joy and in general brings smiles to the soul. More hours not less!!!!
We now have several little home made neighborhood library stations around town. These are built by a handy wood worker and put up for people to put books into and take out. I often see many children’s books there. Wonderful to share books especially with children. The best gift to give a child is your time and your teaching them to read.
Oh, I would love to have this book! I was a little girl in the 30’s and have so many wonderful memories of Christmases with my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, many of whom are gone now. Those were hard knock Christmases with few toys or gifts, but there was an abundance of love. My cousins and I are still a tight knit group and if I should be lucky enough to win, I would surely share it with them!
Please enter me in your generous giveaway. I love that your granny contributes to your giveaways. So sweet
Sounds like a warm and cozy read. Growing up where oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and tangerines decorated our December evergreens, I’ve always eaten up stories that shared “traditional” Christmas experiences which often remind me of my older relatives stories of Christmas in Kansas. (Did you ever pull taffy in the snow?) Maybe I’ll get a chance to read The Christmas Barn.
I live very close to Murphy and would love to have this book and the ornament & stocking. Thank you for sharing!
Well I’d loveto to read this book. If I’m not mistaken I have read others by him. I love Christmas! I enjoy your blog and have been trailing along for the last couple of years!
Both books…great Wintertime reading. I’d love hot chocolate and snowflakes with either of them 🙂
It has been a good November with the blind pig and the acorn….
Christmas stories like this are always the best when they mention our counties or home places. They take us back to a much simpler time.
As we go into the season, just a quick note to wish you and all your loved ones a happy and joyous December. God bless you all and God bless your many friends who follow Blind Pig and the Acorn.
Oh, please put my name in the stocking! I would love the book to share with grandkids! Merry Christmas. The Blind Pig is just a sweet part of each day in my house. Thank you, Tipper.
I’ve been following the Blind Pig web site for a long time. I find it interesting that many of the things you mention in Appalachia are also common in our area (Arkansas). Keep up the good work.
I so enjoy regional literature! When I taught, I shared Appalachian literature with my 8th graders. I still share it on Facebook although most of my students are grown, married and have babies of their own!
This would be a book I would surely share.
I remember the days of producing almost everything we needed and many unneeded but wanted things. Now most people buy almost everything and the taste of our food has changed.
Please enter me in the drawing. I enjoy reading books based on Appalachia. I have purchased others you recommended and they were great reads.
Merry Christmas!
Nothing I loved better than to hear my Mother tell stories about growing up in goose hollow and Christmas with 10 brothers and sisters. Not a lot of material stuff but a great amount of LOVE.
If I read a book I truly love, I won’t give it away. I just add it to the collection in my five bookshelves. Sooner or later I will have to donate them or start my own book store, but not until I decide if I want to re-read any of them. The Christmas Barn would probably be one of my keepers.
It is always so nice to read about people and places we know and especially so if the author has done a good job. Finding gems like that keeps us in the hunt, always thinking there must be others ‘out there’ somewhere. There are very few examples from where I grew up.
There is an Appalachian Christmas book for children that you brought to mind the other day. I think you would really like it to. It is called “Silver Packages” and was written by Cynthia Rylant. It is based on the Christmas train that runs (still, I believe) through the coalfields dropping off Christmas presents along the way.
Please put my name in the hat (or the stocking), Tipper! I’d been planning a blog giveaway in November, but the construction projects have been keeping me tied up and worn out and barely catching up with reading blogs, never mind writing my own. Sure hope next week will see most of it done and my house all buttoned up for Winter! And now it will be a December giveaway 🙂
Good morning!! I’ve been following your blog for a while now and love reading your posts 🙂 I’m in Appalachian girl, blue ridge mountains of Virginia, but I’ve since moved away from more rule Appalachia. Some of the things you’re right about are so reminiscent of my childhood and the stories I’ve heard from my grandmother
Would you ever be willing to have an email conversation with me so I can ask you some questions? I’m doing some family history research and I’d love some clarification on cultural stuff.
As I was reading this I wondered how you could give it away. So glad to hear you bought one for yourself. It sounds like something you need in your library.
Love these local stories.
Would like to have one can they be bought there?
What a lovely way to record memories! Mom never talked much about her Christmas memories from Kentucky except for one thing. Grampaw always made sure she & her older brothers each got an orange! Wish I’d asked her more questions. Today is her birthday. She’d be 100.
You always pick the best books. Usually, Alex gets a book for Christmas or her birthday that you have recommended. My sabbatical reading list is made up of a lot of you suggestions, too.
I love the toboggan. I also like saying it because nobody outside home knows what I’m talking about.
Merry Christmas to you and all the Blind Pig folks. I love books because I think they are one of the most precious gifts to share with little ones. And the best books are based on true stories.
Tip, can you imagine a time when you could produce almost everything that you need right on your own farm and just going to town to shop on rare occasions? I can’t, I go to town almost every day to go to the gym and pick up whatever odds and ends I need or you need. That was certainly a different life!