In a little town high up in the mountains, where the people tended to forget things, all at once and all together, the holiday of Christmas drew near, but no preparations had been made. Then one little girl, convinced that everyone was forgetting something, something to do with trees, suddenly remembered that it was Christmas time. Raising the traditional pole outside her house, with seed for the birds, the girl reminded the townsfolk of what time of year it was, and soon holiday preparations were in full swing...

Originally published in Norwegian in 1958 as Bygda som glömte at det var jul, and translated and adapted for American children in 1961 by Kay Ware and Lucille Sutherland, The Town That Forgot it Was Christmas is the second Christmas picture book I have read from celebrated Norwegian children's author Alf Prøysen, following upon his charming Christmas Eve at Santa's. The story is a humorous one, full of silly fun—one feels that there is a hat tip here to the folkloric trope of the village of fools—while the accompanying artwork from Nils Stödberg, done in a realistic style, is also very entertaining. Recommended to picture book readers looking for Christmas stories with a silly sense of humor, and a heartwarming, somewhat old-fashioned feeling. ( )