Rufus: Just Saying: The Twelve Days of Christmas in Kentucky
14 November 2014
Rufus: Hello. Dr. Evelyn Christensen, I only know two doctors. One is Professor Daughter, my People’s daughter, and the other is my veterinarian who gives me shots. Which kind are you?
Evelyn: I’m so glad to be here with you, Rufus. Thanks for inviting me. No, I, for sure, don’t give shots! I’m like Professor Daughter. I was planning to teach big people (probably like she does), but I decided my favorite age was little people, so those are the ones I mostly taught.
Rufus: Whew! Do you have a dog or cat? I live with a cat. He’s very bossy.
Evelyn: No, but my youngest son and his family have two cats and two dogs, and we love to visit them. (I’m allergic to cats, so I just take antihistamine while we’re there.)
Rufus: Does anty-hissymean taste good like bologna? Christmas is special to me. Professor Daughter comes to visit my People, and I might even get a new rubber toy! I love tug-o-war while MomPeople holds my rubber buoy.
And Kentucky is special to me, since I’ve always lived here. And because I adopted my People out at White Hall Historical site (Green and Cassius Clay’s home) when my People were there one morning to walk around the pond.
What is special about Christmas in Kentucky?
Evelyn: Christmas in Kentucky is extra special for me this year, because my first picture book, The Twelve Days of Christmas in Kentucky, is out! It’s special, because families get together (like Professor Daughter visiting your People). Beautiful music and special programs in churches and other places and all kinds of lights and decorations make the season festive, and, for those who are Christians, it’s Jesus’ birthday.
Rufus: Why Twelve Days of Christmas?
Evelyn: My book is based on the traditional song by that title. Each day, Marybeth gives her cousin Martin, who’s visiting from out-of-state, a gift to help him remember the special places in Kentucky they went that day. Most of the gifts are pretend. I mean, would you really want seven woolly mammoths on Day Seven?!
Rufus: Hmmm. As long as wooly mammoths are not big cats, maybe I would. Which is your favorite of the Twelve Days of Christmas?
Evelyn:That’s a really hard question, because each is a favorite in its own way. Day Three is my favorite picture. Kent Culotta, the illustrator of the book, did a great job of showing the sharks swimming around Martin and Marybeth. My husband and I visited the Newport Aquarium so I could know how to write about it for the book, and having the sharks and rays swimming really close to us was very exciting!
Rufus: Would you give us a blurb about your new book?
Evelyn: Marybeth is thrilled to have her cousin Martin visit her and her parents for twelve days of Christmas vacation. They spend the twelve days jam-packed with fun, showing Martin all over Kentucky, and each day Marybeth gives Martin a gift. From the first day’s gift of a cardinal in a tulip poplar (the state bird and tree) to the twelfth day with its gift of “12 balls a-bouncing” (because Martin gets to see a basketball game), the gifts are fun tie-ins with some aspect of the state. The book is chock full of interesting information about Kentucky–geography, history, culture, fun places to visit, and activities that reflect life in Kentucky.
Rufus: That sounds really cool! Would you give us an excerpt from your new book?
Evelyn: From Martin’s letter to his parents on Day 4—
Tonight we saw four miles of gigantic Christmas light displays at the Kentucky Horse Park. At the end were rooms full of electric model trains, a petting zoo, and reindeer! I wonder if horses are jealous that Santa chooses reindeer to pull his sleigh instead of them.
Feeling lucky to be in Kentucky, Martin
Rufus: Thank you, Dr. Christensen!
The book is available at–Most Barnes & Noble stores in KY and many independent bookstores, like JosephBeth and Morris Bookshop in Lexington.
–Online at:
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2eQFUUy
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2dI1XAQ
Amazon:http://amzn.to/2eLc85q
