This book is a must read for anyone familiar with Lebanese/Syrian immigrants to the US in the last 100 years.

The characters and customs in the book are so much like the people and things I remember as a child.

If you are of Lebanese/Syrian descent, you should read this book to your children/grandchildren. It's a great way to keep the values and customs alive of our parents and grandparents.

Although I read and reread all of the author's Betsy-Tacy books as a child, I had never heard of "The trees kneel at Christmas" until it was rescued and rereleased by Abdo and Daughters several years ago.

The story was inspired by a legend the author heard from a Lebanese immigrant woman while living in New York. She kept the legend -- that the cedar trees in Lebanon kneel down at midnight on Christmas Eve -- in her mind for quite some time, until a visit to a local school matched the face of a young girl with the story.

The story is told quite simply and timelessly. Young Afify hears the legend of the kneeling cedars from her grandmother and wonders if the trees kneel in Brooklyn, too. The remainder of the story follows her as she sets out in search of a miracle.