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A Pig's Head for Christmas Dinner
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Frank McCourt Talks to St. Margaret's Students

A pig's head for holiday meals, a bottle of ink as a cherished Christmas gift and a beloved first book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," were some of the personal memories Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Frank McCourt shared with St. Margaret's Lower School students during his visit to the school on Monday.

McCourt visited St. Margaret's to share his new children's book, "Angela and the Baby Jesus," a captivating Christmas story about his mother,

Angela, as a child -- often cold and hungry herself -- compelled to rescue the Baby Jesus from the church nativity and take him home to keep him warm.

While growing up McCourt's family did not have Christmas trees or presents, they always had the tradition of hearing their mother recount the story each year.  "This is what we did, we had to be storytellers. We did not have television," he said.

McCourt retold her story, which he characterized as one of human nature, compassion and maternal instinct, to more than 400 children in kindergarten through grade five.  The students hung on McCourt's words letting out shrieks of surprise and laughter as he described his mother tossing the baby Jesus over the backyard fence and being confronted by the police.

"Mr. McCourt's story and visit were a perfect match for our students," said Lower School Librarian Victoria Burnett.  "We encourage our students to be active learners and listeners, and to experience literacy from a global perspective and to embrace and respect their own life story and the stories of others.

"It was wonderful, the students were completely engaged. He shared pieces of his mother's history and the background to the story and spoke in authentic Irish dialect that made the book came alive and drew the children into the story," she said.

Fifth grader Blake said, "He was very lively when he spoke."

Shelby, grade 4, added, "He was a really good storyteller with an interesting personality." Kindergartener Gunnar said, "I liked Mr. McCourt's voice a lot."

McCourt's publishers asked him a few years ago if he would be interested in writing a children's book. McCourt said, "It is a story I never forgot and I knew that I didn't have to write one because it was already written in my head."

A link to the Orange County Register article can be found by clicking here

Contact:
Anne Mack
949.661.0108 x252
949.400.2055 (mobile)
anne.mack@smes.org