Characters
The young boy who is visiting his grandparents' farm for Christmas.
Who is Liam?
The holiday Liam and Lily are visiting for.
What is Christmas?
The type of animal the cow is.
What is a bovine?
A word used in the book to describe the season or time of year.
What is winter/Christmas time?
The overall lesson about giving gifts.
What is that the best gifts come from the heart/helping others?
Liam's older sister who helps him on his mission.
Who is Lily?
The place where Liam and Lily are staying during the story.
What is the farm?
What the ground and air were full of during the children's stay.
What is snow/winter?
The feeling the children notice in the white cow.
What is loneliness/sadness?
What Liam and Lily put first over material things.
What are the cow's needs/others' feelings?
The lonely white animal that Liam and Lily decide needs a gift.
What is the cow/Nellie?
The specific gift Liam decides the cow needs.
What is a companion/friend?
The building where the cow spends her time.
What is the barn?
The term for a female cow, as mentioned in the story.
What is a cow/heifer?
How the children feel after finding a companion for the cow.
What is happy/fulfilled/joyful?
Liam and Lily's grandparents, who own the farm.
Who are Grandpa and Grandma?
What the children use to "buy" the cow's companion.
What is their own money/allowance?
The person who usually takes care of the farm animals.
Who are the grandparents/Grandma?
What the title suggests the gift should be, beyond just an object.
What is something heartfelt/a companion/a good deed?
The gift the children receive in return for their actions.
What is the feeling of giving/happiness from helping others?
The author of The True Gift.
Who is Patricia MacLachlan?
The resolution for the lonely cow at the end of the story.
What is she gets a companion/another cow named Lucy?
What Liam is initially afraid of on the farm?
What are the animals/cow?
A synonym for the feeling Liam has about the cow's situation.
What is empathy/concern/sympathy?
This is the real "true gift" according to the story's conclusion.
What is companionship/kindness/empathy?