Gifts from the Heart: Simple Ways to Make Your Family's Christmas More Meaningful

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Brucker draws on her experience as a primary school teacher to offer
ideas on how to tone down some of the negatives of the typical
middle-class Christmas season. The emphasis is on a shift from receiving
to giving. The book targets parents of young children, offering ways to
involve them in the Christmas excitement. This is achieved via
lists—of craft projects, books to read, low-cost seasonal activities
involving the whole family, and ways to encourage children’s
generosity toward and respect for others

There are chapters on suggestions for volunteer activities; creating
seasonal traditions, gifts, and decorations; remembering seniors and
invalids; activities involving animals; and ecologically friendly
holiday tips. It would be easy to be smothered under the weight of all
the guilt-inducing should-do’s contained in these lists.

Numerous recipes are included for Christmas food treats—cookies,
squares, candy, plus a few dishes suitable for a potluck party.

The text is largely in point form. While it contains little that is
original or imaginative, it does do a good job of rounding up all the
“helpful hints” that have been circulating for decades in women’s
magazines and small-town newspapers. The school teacher’s experience
with simple crafts is evident. The writing style is amateurish with, at
times, rather dubious grammar.