My Antonia

During the week before Christmas, the snow falls so continuously that Jake cannot get to town to do the Christmas shopping for the Burdens, and the family decides “to have a country Christmas, without any help from town” (81). Jim creates picture books for Ántonia and Yulka by pasting together copies of famous paintings from his grandmother’s old magazines as well Sunday-school and advertising cards he had brought from his “old country” (81) of Virginia. Otto makes candles, and Grandmother Burden bakes gingerbread cookies. The day before Christmas, Jake takes the gifts for the Shimerdas, and on his way back, he cuts a small cedar tree for Christmas, recalling how much Jim liked these in his home state.

After Christmas Eve supper, the Burdens decorate the tree with popcorn strings, gingerbread treats, and candles. Then, Otto retrieves from his trunk a number of brilliant paper figures, including Baby Jesus, the three kings, and singing angels, which had been sent to him over the years by his mother in Austria. The tree is now filled with stories and reminds Grandma Burden of the Tree of Knowledge.