Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story, ‘non-fiction’ seasonal “who” dunnit

The rub about a children’s non-fiction illustrated book that’s “inspired by” a real-life happening is that it helps to have some bearing on how much of the story is true. That’s because the audience that you’re reading it to is more than likely to have questions about the characters or a tangential story that they want to share. I was unaware of the true story behind Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story, yet when I finished reading it my first thought was that this seems like it could be a true story. However, thinking like any good attorney does, I’m not prepared to ask a question unless I already know the answer.

A little bit of research told me that Merry and Hark is based around the 2020 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. It’s “based around” or “inspired by”, but I wasn’t able to pin down exactly what aspects of the story happened. My intuition tells me that a saw-whet owl was in the tree that was cut down and transported to NYC. It might, or might not have been named Merry, but it was almost certainly returned to upstate New York where it’s feasting on mice scurrying along the forest floor. I’m skeptical that the tree was called Hark, but it makes thematic sense given the time of the book, so let’s roll with it.

The illustrated book is presented in prose form. It’s poetic, but not in a sing-song rhyme fashion that will throw up flags of disinterest from any student older than first grade. For those who are extreme in the adversity to poetry, the illustrations help push the story along quite nicely where they’re able to follow along with minimal text. The reason I’m harping on the text is because some of the pages are longer than others, factor in that it’s poetic, and getting some kids to read Merry and Hark on their own could be challenging.

Merry and Hark follow Merry as she cavorts around the forest, and establishes her preference for the Norway spruce tree and how she nests in it. This is important because any normal nest would fall out of its host’s branches, but the saw-whet owl builds its nest into the trunk of the tree. It’s a tighter fit and keeps the owl warmer too. Thus, Merry is surprised when she hears a thunderous noise outside of the tree and has it fall to the ground.

Hark is being taken to New York City where it’s going to be on display for the Christmas season. Merry has no idea that a big city is far from the ideal hunting ground for an owl that craves the dark, quiet forest realm. On the third day of her metropolitan nightmare a kind human picks her up out of her cubby hole, nurses her back to 100% and takes her back to the countryside a couple of days later.

As a standalone story, it is very cute and serves to demonstrate to children that teamwork is important, handling adversity and just a little bit about nature also. And I might be overthinking it when I see the endless questions that young audiences would have about the book or its subject matter. Did it really happen? If it did happen, how much of the book really happened? What other animals are impacted when they cut down big Christmas trees? Did Merry easily find a new home? Was Hark recycled to a mulch pile once the festive season was over?

Having been on the receiving end of questions that one couldn’t conceive of whilst reading illustrated books I can see these coming. Some of the questions will be easy to deflect, but others will take some planning with the worst phrase you could  utter to a group of first graders during storytime, “I don’t know.” And unless that phrase is immediately followed by the recess bell or the announcement that the end of school is nigh those kids won’t be having it.

Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story will yield some nice conversations about what the students will do for the holidays and if they’ve seen certain things in nature. The illustrations in the book are immersive and will make them ooooh and aaaah in the right places. If you read the book accurately it can also be just the right amount of drama, so long as the reader knows how to steer the audience. However, much like my misleading headline, it could open up a can of worm towards questions that could distract your young audience, so be prepared

Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story is by April Genevieve Tucholke with illustrations by Rebecca Santo and is available on Algonquin Young Readers, and imprint of Workman Publishing.  

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