Cathy's December Column

I love this time of year at home. At our house we celebrate both Chanukkah and Christmas. Our large family, made up of children, cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces and nephews, grand and regular, good friends, and our ever growing mishpucha, gathers around menorahs and Christmas trees and enjoys plenty of wonderful dinners. We call ourselves a village.

I also absolutely, completely and utterly love this time of year at the Tattered Cover. We spend much of the year planning for the holiday season, hoping to have just the right treasure for each and every person on all the lists that come through our doors. As the lead buyer I put a lot of my energy into thinking about this, usually starting in late May at Book Expo America, the annual gathering of the book industry. All through the summer and into the fall I absorb as much as I can about as many books as I can, poised to embrace each customer's list and help them check off names, happily knowing they have special gifts, thoughtfully chosen. Gifts that can be opened again and again.

And then there are the unexpected, totally wonderful surprises that add to the joy and the fun of bookselling. Serendipity is the only way to describe what happened the day after Thanksgiving. As I sat down to write this column, Quang Ho, the immensely talented and internationally recognized artist, and Matthew Switzer, cellist for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and also a renowned conductor, stopped by with their recently completed project: a children's book! Ansel and the Great Tree is a collaborative project: a Beautiful, moving story written by Rose Switzer, simply gorgeous illustrations by Quang Ho, and a CD of an original score for orchestra and narrator composed by Matthew Switzer. It was Black Friday and the news was full of 4 am door-busters. Here was my kin of doorbuster. A simply stunning book with a story that children of all ages will treasure, created by Denver's own treasures. An the model for the sweet little boy, the hero of this lovely tale, is the son of another of Denver's treasures, Frank Bonanno, gifted chef and one of our favorite Denver restaurateurs.

Ansel and the Great Tree is about a little boy, a large tree and their village. On behalf of all of us at the Tattered Cover, I would like to thank all of you, our greater village, for all you do to make it a great good place, and to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a peaceful New Year.
***This book is not on our website yet, but you can call any of our stores to inquire about it's availability.***

(this column was originally posted on gabbygourmet.com)