Grateful Peter's new year's gift

About the book

Twelve-year-old Peter Grant sells baked potatoes while snow and wind empty the streets on New Year's Eve. He shares a poor home with Sally Graham, the older woman who cared for him after his mother's death, and has been saving for a gift that will keep her warm. Memories of an apparently broken promise have made trust difficult, even though he tries to follow the moral advice he has received. An accident brings him into contact with people whose care reaches beyond a passing word. Ruth Lamb addresses young readers directly, contrasting the warmth of a children's party with Peter's exposure outside. Material help and Christian teaching develop together in a tale concerned with how receiving compassion may change a person's understanding of obligation to others.

• Gratitude and generosity
• Poverty and care
• Christian faith

Why read it

Peter's planned gift to his guardian establishes his generosity before the story begins to improve his circumstances.

English Religious Tract Society text in the Little Dot Series