Margaret had planned a Christmas surprise for her mother and her twin brothers. She would make five special cookies, one for each of them, and one for Santa.
But something unexpected happened late that afternoon when she and her brothers were walking home with their groceries for Christmas dinner.
It was growing cold and dark. Falling rain made it difficult to see when suddenly, the children discovered an elderly lady who had fallen down on the wet sidewalk. Margaret looked around for help, but the store had just closed. Its parking lot was nearly empty.
With limited options, the children took the lady with them to warm up and use the telephone at their apartment. Margaret made cocoa and served Mrs. King one of the five cookies, knowing as she did so, that there would no longer be enough for the Christmas surprise she had planned for her family.
In spite of her decision, Christmas was not spoiled, and the little family learned an important lesson about the true gifts of caring and love.
This short novel has gentle, likeable characters with realistic problems. Its lesson about gifts is subtly tied to the "real" story of Christmas and its best Gift of all time.
