A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays (Tasha Tudor's Collection)

My favorite book as a child. Bar none. It's difficult for me to look at this book today and not be swept over completely by nostalgia and longing. I especially remember the yearning I would feel after reading this book, when little. In this simple story, a little girl asks her grandma what life was like when her mother was a little girl. The grandmother relates the special activities that would occur seasonally, illustrating the children's life during that time. Each month is accompanied by an appropriate quote that sums up the feelings of that time. One month might have a quote from Mother Goose. Another from Geoffrey Chaucer. Children reading this quotes won't know who they are, but they'll enjoy reading such phrases as, "When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock" (James Whitcomb Riley), feeling the emotion behind each quotation.But it's the storyline that gripped me so tightly as a kid. I wanted to belong to the world Tudor conjured up. An odd period of history that's not quite the pioneer days, but definitely not modern day. Here, people have beetle races and make their own cider. They have sugarhouses and eat maple syrup on the snow (something I always wanted to do). Birthdays are celebrated in mysterious woodland grottos and birthday cakes are sent floating down rivers at night, lit for everyone to see. And of course there are corgis and cats everywhere. Tudor's illustrations go beyond her scenes. Each picture is contained within beautifully embellished vines that mimic the time of year. Sometimes you'll see red tipped blackbirds flying in the gutters between the pages. Or pussywillows winding about the corners. Then too, the people in these pictures are always having fun. The kids perform their own Midsummer's Eve plays or have exciting Halloween parties. Even those moments when someone is being scared at Halloween, you can usually see some child somewhere acting brave or fully enjoying his moment of surprise. The only slightly objectionable moment in the book in this book may be a moment of charades in which two boys are dressed like "Indians" preparing to scalp their sister. It's fairly tame when you look at it, and I've seen far more offensive stuff presented in older kids books since then. Beyond that, there is not a single moment of discomfort to be felt. This is a beautiful book that has retained its loveliness as the years go by. Such sweet stories as this do not come along every day. You'd do well to keep this one in mind.

My mother owned a first printing copy of this book, and I can remember reading it all my life. I was thrilled when I discovered that my mother kept the book all these years, and I was also next to tears when she told me I could keep it, along with the numbers and alphabet books of Tudor's that she had. This book is a celebration of the memories of a happy childhood, and it's appropriate that it was such a huge part of mine. I'm buying a new copy of this book for the children I hope to one day have, while my mom's copy is going to be locked away somewhere safe. This is a truly, thoroughly beautiful book, and one that every family should own.

This delightful book of holidays begins when a little girl asks, "Granny, what was it like when Mummy was me?" Tasha Tudor goes on to treat us to a year's worth of wonderful holiday traditions from her life in New England. Charming quotations from literature open each month and herbaceous borders surround each page of nostalgic illustrations depicting myriad family celebrations. The borders start with brown and frozen grasses and flowers festooned with icicles that bud on subsequent pages and send out catkins, then blossoms, then flowers and leaves, then fruits, all in splendid realistic detail. The pictures invite one warmly into the fun and rekindle one's own memories. Tasha reminds us of the delicious foods, the antics of the children, the activities and games, the decorations, the weather, the homespun plays and puppet shows, and the joyful seasonal work. We see big families caught up in living through the wonders of the wheel of the year. Holidays are depicted as the accents to each season, but equally important are the birthdays, the county fairs, cider and maple syrup making time. The people and animals from Tasha Tudor's own experience grace these lovely pages and offer us a glimpse into lives that are filled with love and wonder and appreciation for the beautiful and gentle nuances of living the good life. Simplicity and tradition make the holidays magical and we can all take our cue from this wonderful book and re-examine how we celebrate our traditional holidays. Co-operation and sharing the workload seems to have eliminated stress in these pictures. Creativity and family participation take the place of materialism. Home crafts and delightful cooking and a visible delight in children seem to have banished excessive "partying" and keep the focus on love, comfort, and gratitude. This book is such a treat and it is virtually guaranteed to help put whatever holidays you celebrate into thoughtful perspective.

I discovered Tasha Tudor as a young adult and I am treasuring her books to share with my granddaughter who will soon be three. Tasha Tudor takes me to the world I wish I lived in. What a wonderful place to be a child. My collection will continue to grow. I especially love this book that marks the passage of days and seasons with meaning and delight.

This classic was given to me by my Godparents & I have treasured it from the very beginning. Even as a small girl (7-10) I somehow knew the importance of keeping my book in nice condition. The classic scenes that Tudor paints are from an age that was more simple and one that children are bound to ask there grandparents about. My favorite months are February (with the post office for Valentine's) and August (with the floating candlelit cake).I still have my original book from 1972 and look at the tiny details on each page every now & then. I'm 26 now & I've bought "A Time To Keep" for my friend's daughters & hope they will enjoy it just as much as I have.