"Mother and I live in a house we made by ourselves. There's black printing on the walls and floor...Our house is small. There's just room for us and what we have." Simon and his mother have few material possessions and comforts, but they've patched together a creche and hung up a picture of an angel named December. They agree that December sings to them over the traffic noise while they sleep. On Christmas Eve a thoroughly chilled white woman asks if she may come in. They share their single heavy cover and one of three cookies for which Simon had traded soda cans. She gives them a fabric rose from her hat. While the three huddle together to sleep, Simon dreams that December comes to life and visits them. After his dream, things begin to change for this little family. They get an apartment with real walls, and some call it luck. "I don't think so," says Simon. Some readers might say this story is about a miracle. Simon might agree. The first person narrative is unusual, but it's the powerful visual images that bring a compelling edge to the story illustrated with powerful full-color assemblages reminiscent of Smoky Night (Harcourt, 1994) and Going Home (Harcourt, 1996), also written by Bunting and illustrated by Diaz. (Ages 7-9)

Simon and his mom don't have much--the cardboard house they built for themselves, a tiny Christmas tree, and a picture of an angel from a calendar pinned to one wall. The angel's name is December. Simon's mom says she sings to them when they're asleep. On Christmas Eve, Simon and his mom take in an old woman who needs a place to keep warm, and the next morning, Simon wakes early to find that the old woman has vanished. Instead, he sees December, their Christmas angel, with her wings fanned out over their cardboard house. Could she be real?