title: A Clever Beatrice Christmas
author:  Margaret Willey 
description: Grade 1-3Beatrice's friends don't believe that Pre Nol exists. When they ask how he could possibly brave the cold winds all night, she promises to bring them a button from his cape. Their doubts about his sleigh lead her to promise them a sleigh bell, and, last of all, she pledges to get a curl from his beard. The girl stays up late to meet the old man, and believes she has tricked him into letting her take the tokens, but readers will see that perhaps she is not the only clever one around. Fans of the character will undoubtedly welcome this North Woods tale with its richly colored watercolor illustrations, but libraries without a Beatrice following can safely skip it.<i>Lisa Falk, Los Angeles Public Library</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE
  
  CHRISTMAS
  
  WIDOW
  
  a holiday novella
  
  by
  
  JILLIAN EATON
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Nothing to say?” Jack mocked, causing Beatrice’s hand to twitch as she
  silently yearned to slap the smug sneer right off his face. She must have been
  crazy to think herself attracted to him! Far crazier than the villagers
  already thought her to be.
  
  “I’ve plenty,” she said with a glare, “but I have grown weary of wasting my
  breath on you, arrogant bastard that you are!”
  
  “And there she is,” Jack murmured with an approving nod of his head.
  
  “What are you talking about?” Beatrice demanded, thrown off guard by the
  sudden gleam in his eye.
  
  “The woman who has been hiding,” Jack said. “The woman I have been waiting to
  meet.” He took one step towards her and then another, boots crunching loudly
  on the snow. Mesmerized by the dark, sensual promise glittering into the
  depths of his golden gaze Beatrice remained frozen in place as he approached,
  suddenly finding herself unable to move or speak as though she w