By Alidë Kohlhaas

When it comes to gifts for young children, my choice invariably leans toward giving books. This Christmas I have chosen two books from Key Porter Kids for the very young that also will please the child in adults. These are Woodland Nutcracker and The Huron Carol.

Woodland Nutcracker, based on the 1816 tale of The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann, was made famous by Tchaikovsky through his ballet, The Nutcracker, adapted for him by Alexander Dumas in 1891. In The Woodland Nutcracker the setting has been removed from its original setting of a German Christmas — yes, indeed, that was the original setting, the Russian association came only with Tchaikovsky — to a Canadian woods setting. There, young Clara and Peter's family are brown bears. They are joined by Polar bears, pandas from China, koala from Australia, as well as woodland mice and other bears. It is beautifully adapted by Avril Tyrrell and illustrated by Frances Tyrrell. It is a perfect gift to give to any youngster to help them gain a direct understanding of the ballet that they might well be visiting during the Christmas break.

As an aside, the Soldier Nutcracker statue we see appearing in stores at Christmas time has been part of a German Christmas for nigh 200 years, and no, as someone recently tried to convince me, it is not a Russian tradition.

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The Huron Carol is as Canadian as Canadian can be. Frances Tyrrell has taken this beautiful carol,  written by Jesuit missionary, Father Jean de Brébeuf in 1643 while he worked among the Huron, and given it the attention through her artwork that it deserves. This is not just a book for children, it is a treasure that belongs into every Canadian household. Brébeuf turned the Nativity story into an event to which the Native North American Hurons could relate far more easily than to the Middle Eastern setting, so far removed from their own experience. Brébeuf, by the way, is the patron saint of Canada. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930.

What is interesting is that Tyrrell managed to find only one verse in the old Huron language and two verses in 18^th century French, when it was first translated into that language, and is very different from today's French text. The English text dates from 1926, when the Ontario poet Jesse Edgar Middleton (1872-1960) translated it for us from the French text. The present day Huron-Wendate Nation in Quebec uses a modern Huron text. The lyrics, as Tyrrell found them, and music are given toward the end of the book so that we all sing and play this carol. There is also a brief history on the final page that tells a little about Father Brébeuf and the Huron nation.

Nylons Huron Carol Audio Clip