Featured Book, 2023

OUR FEATURED BOOK: Each year, the Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child! District Program Coordinator selects a book that is shared in our schools.

Superintendent Anna Shepherd writes: “I am so pleased that for this 26th year celebration, ALL 209 Floyd County Schools’ district winners will receive a copy of the featured book: The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry. This book is given with our schools sharing Parent Engagement funds and with a partnership including Readmore Bookstore in Prestonsburg. Thank you to all who support these students featured through Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child program!

Some of you have read this classic Christmas story written by O. Henry, which was the pen name for William Sydney Porter. The story was first published in The New York Sunday World, a newspaper, on December 10, 1905 - that’s 118 years ago. The language and the style of the writing will require you to remember that the author wrote this story long before there were computers, televisions, I-phones and all the electronic communication that we have today. You will understand the story, and the artwork by award winning artist, P.J. Lynch. The story and the art, I believe, match perfectly and will touch your heart. The message is one that never grows old: Are you willing to sacrifice the thing you most treasure for the person you love the most? Or sacrifice what you love most to do some ultimate good without expecting anything in return? When you read this beautiful book, think about your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents who know about sacrificing for their family. The story is one that encourages all of us to do good, kind things for others without thinking about what we will get in return.”