Young Frankie wants a doctor kit each year as the rich man riding the Christmas train and tossing silver packages to children comes along. Each year he is disappointed to not receive the doctor kit. Instead he receives something he needs plus a toy. The rich man was trying to repay a debt. As an adult, Frank who had moved away returns to repay the debt he feels he owes. The illustrations are gorgeous! The book could be used to discuss all sorts of things such as thankfulness, poverty, giving back to the community, etc. ( )

In Appalachia each Christmas, a boy named Frankie waits beside the tracks for the Christmas Train, which will bring presents to the children who live in coal towns and hollows. Year after year, Frankie hopes that one particular gift -- one very special gift -- will be tossed to him from that train. And it is this enduring hope that will guide him to the true meaning of the season.

Cynthia Rylant's story about expectation and the transforming power of kindness first appeared in her acclaimed collection Children of Christmas. Now gloriously illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet with watercolor paintings of glistening trains and snow-covered hills, it shines all the more brightly.

In Appalachia each Christmas, a boy named Frankie waits beside the tracks for the Christmas Train, which will bring presents to the children who live in coal towns and hollows. Year after year, Frankie hopes that one particular gift -- one very special gift -- will be tossed to him from that train. And it is this enduring hope that will guide him to the true meaning of the season. Cynthia Rylant's story about expectation and the transforming power of kindness first appeared in her acclaimed collection Children of Christmas. Now gloriously illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet with watercolor paintings of glistening trains and snow-covered hills, it shines all the more brightly.
https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Packages-Appalachian-Christmas-Story/dp/053130051X...

This is a gorgeous book!!! The illustrations are amazing and the story is heart-warming. It could be used to talk about poverty, needs versus wants, repaying a debt, and community. It would make a great book for talking about giving back to people who have helped you as well as following your dreams. The students could write about a time when they received a present they did not think they wanted but ended up needing, or start a school wide winter clothes drive for those who do not have adequate winter clothing.

A cute story about the magic of Christmas. The story is set in the Appalachian mountains, in which a train travels through every year at Christmas time and leaves presents for the children. The story is told in third person perspective as one boy wishes year after year for a doctor's kit, but he never gets the kit. Instead he receives gifts of things he needs, such as a hat and mittens. When the boy grows up he becomes a doctor and return to the Appalachian town.

This story has beautiful illustrations and tells a wonderful story of tradition. I am not sure if the tradition of the train is true, but it still teaches the concept of tradition. This is a great book for teaching foreshadowing and inferring as the author foreshadows the young boy becoming a doctor in his adulthood, and inferring that the boy becomes a doctor as the text does not literally make the statement. ( )

This is another in the long list of books by Cynthia Rylant that everybody would be better off having read. Not your typical Christmas story, this book offers us the story of a giving and kindness and more than anything the concept of appreciating what you have for its own good. ( )