Jerry Camery-Hoggatt Reviews

Added March 10, 2008

When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four: A Christmas Memory

Author: Jerry Camery-Hoggatt
Illustrator: Mark Elliot
Publisher: Revell Books
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: February 20, 2007
Genre: Children: Holiday/Storybook
Format: Hardcover
Price: $18.99
ISBN-10: 0-8007-1836-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-8007-1836-7,
Reviewer: Sherri Myers
Rating: 8 Gargoyles

It was the Christmas of 1963 when Jerry Camery-Hoggatt learned what it meant to be a giver of gifts. His mother, Josephine Mary Knowles Hoggatt, stood only 4' 11" but she was tall on the inside-11' 4", in fact! She said she needed to be that tall to make Christmas happen for them, but Jerry didn't understand what she meant by that until later. Jerry lived with his parents, along with a sister, three brothers, and three cousins, whose father was in the Navy and couldn't care for them.

Jerry's mother was a romantic who loved to give extravagant gifts, because she believed that God gave to us His most extravagant gift--Christmas. She always got a twelve-foot tall tree each Christmas, but one year everything changed. Jerry's uncle came back for his kids after he got married and left the Navy, then his older brother and sister both left home too. Then his dad left, and that left Jerry with his mom and his two brothers. With their income reduced, they had to move to a smaller home and couldn't afford a Christmas tree anymore. That was the first time Jerry had seen his mother cry. Determined never to let that happen to his mother again, he and his brother did odd jobs to make money in order to buy a tree for the next year. So for Christmas 1963, with $4.57 in their pocket, they bought a tree for their mother. That was the second time they saw their mother cry, and the day they all stood 11' 4". It was the Christmas of 1963, the year Jerry Camery-Hoggatt learned what it meant to be a giver of gifts.

When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four: A Christmas Memory is the story of Jerry Camery-Hoggatt and his mother, Josephine Mary Knowles Hoggatt. Although it was written for young readers, this book is sure to delight everyone whether young, old, or somewhere in between. Beautifully illustrated by Mark Elliott, the reading of When Mother Was Eleven-Foot-Four: A Christmas Memory will become a lasting family tradition each Christmas, and will remind readers that Christmas is God's extravagant gift to His beloved creation--the human race.

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This page was last updated on March 10, 2008

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