Celebrate the holiday season at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library with a special storybook reading with Santa! Enjoy a snack of cookies and hot chocolate as Santa reads Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon, a picture book based on the true story of a Christmastime ceasefire between American and German forces during WWI.
After the reading, families can capture a memory of the day by taking a photo with Santa!
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It is cold and clear on Christmas Eve night in 1914. Suddenly, a strange sound pierces the darkness. Someone is singing a Christmas carol in German.
Francis Tolliver and his fellow British soldiers are holed up in muddy trenches along the Western Front. Their enemies—German soldiers—lie in wait just across a field known as "No Man's Land." As the Germans' carol ends, Tolliver and the other British soldiers sing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Soon carols are being sung back and forth. Then a figure emerges in the dark, carrying a small Christmas tree with lighted candles. The British and German soldiers slowly leave their trenches—and the war—behind to stand together in the open field.
Recommended Reading Age: 7-10 years
