Grateful Peter's New Year's Gift

Snow and fierce wind catch twelve-year-old Peter Grant trying to sell baked potatoes on the last evening of the year. An orphan living in a poor cellar with Sally Graham, he works hard and treasures the woman who cared for him after his mother's death. Ruth Lamb's children's story places their friendship beside questions of poverty, gratitude and Christian duty, beginning with a stranger's advice that Peter should give up trading on Sundays.

The stranger's promise to visit leaves Peter waiting and disappointed. When they meet again at his bedside, the man proves to be Dr. Turner, whose explanation gives Peter reason to reconsider his judgment. Conversations between the boy, Sally and the doctor carry the moral teaching, while the wintry streets and modest household needs keep it concrete. Readers interested in religious stories for children will find kindness expressed through small gifts, practical care and promises taken seriously.