“Daddy, tell me a story . . .”

These are the words my young daughter said as I tucked her into bed one night. Having depleted the file of bedtime stories stored in my memory bank over the years, I was at a loss for what to say. After a few moments of silence, the words began to flow and The Key to Christmas was born.

This is a story of a girl named, Lillie, who, after giving Santa the list of presents she wanted for Christmas, has a change of heart. She decides that she has already been given more than most kids, and asks Santa to give all of the gifts on her list, except for one gift of Santa’s choosing, to children not as fortunate as she. This one gift – holds for her the “key” to the true meaning of Christmas.

The book, illustrated by Dave Pini, comes with a small present similar to the one given to Lillie by Santa. After reading this book with you, the child can also experience the “key” to Christmas by opening the present* included with the book, and using it, as Lillie did, to remind her to live the Spirit of Christmas all year.

* The present consists of a gold key in a box.

This book will benefit your family or students in many ways. Here are a few:

1. It reinforces the true meaning of what Christmas is about – giving and not receiving – a
   message that seems to be fading in our materialistically-oriented society;
2. It provides an opportunity for parents, grandparents and teachers to read the story to their
   kids, grandchildren or students and apply the message to their lives;
3. The key can remind the kids to live the “Spirit of Christmas” beyond the Christmas
   Season throughout the year;
4. Teaching kids about the book’s message before Christmas, helps to take some of the
   pressure off of parents for spending money they might not have on many gifts for their
   kids
5. It can give rise to a family or school tradition of reading the book and placing the key on
   the Christmas tree each year to reinforce living the true meaning of Christmas throughout
   the year.

The Key to Christmas truly is “a timeless story for all time.” Make it part of your Christmas
tradition.