Holiday Story from Liv McLean’s Heart
- plowmanpublishing
- Dec 7
- 2 min read
Snow had just begun to fall the night little Maren climbed onto the couch with one of the books her grandmother used to read to her. It didn’t matter which one—Grandma always chose stories that made Maren feel brave, or silly, or wonderfully seen.
This year, though, the house was quieter. Too quiet.
So Maren picked a book from the little collection Grandma had slowly built over the years—stories by an author named Liv McLean, stories that always felt like warm mittens for the heart.
When she opened the first page, something gentle happened. The softest warmth filled the room, like a memory stepping back into the light. She could almost hear Grandma’s voice reading the way she used to, pausing to make the funny characters even funnier, tapping the page when something important was about to happen.
The story wasn’t just a story anymore. It was a bridge.
A reminder that the people who love us leave pieces of themselves behind—sometimes in the books they choose, sometimes in the stories they share, sometimes in the moments that settle quietly into a child’s heart.
Maren read every page twice.
The next morning, she wrapped the same book in shiny red paper and placed it under the tree for her little cousin Lily.
On the tag, she wrote: “This story helped me feel close to Grandma. I hope it brings you light too.”
And so another child received a tiny lantern made of paper and imagination—one more story continuing its journey through small hands and big hearts.
That’s the quiet magic Liv McLean hopes for when she writes her books: that somewhere, a child feels braver, or calmer, or a little less alone…that a family shares a moment they didn’t realize they needed…that love travels from lap to lap, home to home, Christmas to Christmas.
Because books—especially the ones chosen with tenderness—become memories. They become connected. They become the story children remember long after the snow has melted.
And sometimes, they become the very thing that keeps a loved one close.
Liv McLean,
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