HOME /
ISLAND LIFE /
ISLAND CHRISTMAS /
Christmas Stories from David Weale
Island storyteller David Weale has lent us some stories of Christmas on Prince Edward Island from
his books The True Meaning of Crumbfest and An Island Christmas Reader. Click on any of the story titles
below to read each story. Where there are Listen links, you can also listen to David read his stories (you'll
need the RealPlayer for this).
If you'd like to order your very own copies of David's books, An Island Christmas Reader is ISBN
0969860609 and The True Meaning of Crumbfest is ISBN 0969860641. Both are published by Acorn Press of
Charlottetown.
For more information about David and his work, please contact: David Weale, Charlottetown, RR5, C1A 7J8. Telephone: (902) 676-3068.
The True Meaning of Crumbfest has become a Christmas tradition in many households, weaving a
holiday spell for young and old alike. It first appeared in David Weale's book, An Island Christmas Reader, then
captured CBC Radio listeners on Gabereau and Fireside Al. In 1998 it was made into an animated children's
television special and is now broadcast around the world.
"This is the story of young Eckhart, a mouse. He had quick tiny feet, shiny black eyes and an
extra-long tail. Eckhart lived with his family in a place called Rose Valley, Prince Edward Island..."
[read more]
"He grew up poor, in a large family of brothers on the Miramichi. When he was old enough
to work he became a lumberjack, and with his thick, tree-trunk of a body, and large powerful
hands, he looked every inch the part. But as a young man he gave up the life of the wood
for another vocation. He became an entertainer..." [read more]
"Perhaps the greatest difference between Christmas today and Christmas years ago is that back
then people were poor. Not that there aren't any poor today, but then everyone was poor - or
almost everyone. It wasn't a grinding, end-of-the-rope kind of poverty. Most everyone had
food enough to eat and warm clothes to wear..." [read more]
"The letter arrived at the Charlottetown Police Station early in January, 1954. The return
address was Bear River, and the pencilled handwriting on the front of the envelope could
easily have been mistaken for that of a child. It referred to a calamitous chain of events in
the life of the sender which had been altered dramatically by the caring intervention of two
city policemen..." [read more]
