This book is about how the Amish community celebrates Christmas. It describes how it is celebrated without lights and decorated trees, but it is spread across two days, where the traditional Christmas is celebrated in one day. The gifts are not the main part of the day, and are received after farm chores are done. There are also countlessactivities to do with friends and families.

It was a look on christmas from a different culture. It was a family celebration Christmas completely different from the way that is strongly advertised. It give you a window in how other people live and it might give you a new meaning of the holiday. ( )

The book is about an Amish boy describing the way they celabrate Christmas. Being set in the Amish Country, he doesn't talk about presents or decorations. He talks about the true meaning of christmas and his love for his family. This book was a breath of fresh age. Great to show the different lives of kids to other kids. ( )

Publishers Weekly
Christmas without Santa Claus? Such a thing does exist, as Ammon (Growing Up Amish) shows in this enlightening and refreshing look at the holiday customs of Amish farm families. An Amish Christmas also comes without decorated trees and, of course, without twinkling lights?but it's celebrated over two days instead of one. Families exchange gifts (a wallet, a pocket knife, writing paper, a book) and visit with relatives and friends, but only after farm chores are finished. There's plenty of fun, too: sledding, skating, singing and eating cookies. Ammon will pique the reader's interest with snatches of Pennsylvania Dutch and glimpses inside a one-room schoolhouse. Patrick emphasizes the timelessness of Amish ways and suggests the characters' devotion by the illuminated expressions on their faces. Text borders of quilt-block motifs enhance the mood. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

What a wonderful was to describe how Amish people celebrate Christmas. This would create a great book report for fourth or fifth graders around the holidays. The assignment can be to choose a book that describes a holiday that is different to you or celebrated differently than you do. I like how they show how they celebrate Christmas differently from the way English people do. Children can learn a lot from this book. ( )