December 6th is the Feast of St. Nicholas, who is the patron of children and of sailors.

His help is also sought in prayer by the shipwrecked, those in difficult economic circumstances, and also by those affected by fires.

He was born in Lycia in Asia Minor around the third or fourth century.

Nicholas was put in prison during the reign of the Emperor Diocletion and was only released upon the ascent of Constantine the Great to power who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

One of the most famous tales of this great bishop’s anonymous generosity is told in the story of the bags of gold that he tossed secretly through the window of a poor man, with the aim of the coins serving as the daughters’ dowry, lest they be sold into slavery.

But here, in “The Baker’s Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale” and the 25th edition of this delightfully told and illustrated picture book, is related the story of how the term “baker’s dozen” came to be coined.

A baker’s dozen is 13 pieces, with the extra one thrown in by the baker out of pure generosity of spirit.

It opens with Van Amsterdam, the baker, busier than ever in his Dutch colonial bakery where he is well known for his honesty, but also for the delicious and beautifully iced St. Nicholas Day cookies he sells on the saint’s feast. They are white and red and sell like hot cakes.

Except one St. Nicholas Day, an old woman visits his bakery and asks for a dozen of the cookies which she chides him should number thirteen instead.

A difference of opinion ensues and a curse is pronounced until the baker learns to be a teeny bit more generous of heart.

Suddenly, business drops off!

Is it the cookies or the curse and just WHO is the old woman?

“The good will of legendary St. Nicholas resonates in this tale about the origin of the term “baker’s dozen”…Shepard’s easy-to-follow telling has an appropriate Old World flavor.”

                                                                                          Publishers Weekly

And Wendy Edelson’s paintings have such richness of color, character and detail, they add a definite artistic delineation of St. Nicholas and this baker’s tale, with a feel straight from the Old Masters.

This picture book is a beautiful addition for a read-aloud at holiday time, whether to a group of school children or any captive audience of young readers that perhaps know little of this saintly precursor of Santa Claus.

Mr. Shepard’s tale is a great illustrator of the maxim that “honesty may indeed be the best policy”, BUT while you’re being honest, baker Van Amsterdam learns quickly to his credit, that an equal measure of generosity of spirit doesn’t hurt.

In fact, it helps both you AND your business.

In this time of post Covid restrictions and the devastation it has brought to people and the small businesses they own that operate on such razor thin margins of profit, I have seen a generosity of spirit of which St. Nicholas, himself, would be justly proud.

I have a St. Nicholas tale of my own to tell.

In Greenport , New York, Sharon Sailor owner of Front Street Station eatery and her son and father had for months, along with other small business owners, negotiated the restrictions imposed on businesses because of Covid-19,  and STILL they continued, and do to this today, to reach out to community.

In front of Front Street Station everyday is a table of solicited giveaways (with bags provided, too) of all sorts of things for people that may need help negotiating the new normal. Such kindness and caring is the stuff that binds us all together in a common humanity.

St. Nicholas would be proud of you, Sharon, and all the Sharons of the world!

The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale is a wonderful holiday read that models generosity and self-giving  for young readers, plus this fine 25th Anniversary Edition has a Bonus Cookie Recipe and a Pattern for St. Nicholas Day cookies included.