THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE in the world

When I was 5 or 6 my family went up to New York City at Christmas time. I believe my father was there on business. It was the 1950s and everything was magical. The store windows had elaborate decorations that enthralled me. But the best part of all of it was the tree at Rockefeller Center. It was huge and beautiful. The lights glittered amongst the falling snowflakes. A year or two later we moved to Hawaii so snow was just a memory, as was the enormous tree. But my folks bought me this book which I poured over, page by page, remembering my visit to New York. Somewhere along the line I lost my book, but a few years ago my best friend found me a copy and gifted it to me for my birthday. Seeing all the pictures again brought back happy memories of childhood Christmas.

The Most Beautiful Tree in the World by Leonard Weisgard. The story is about a family who live in a rural area whose tree is chosen to be the one at Rockefeller Center. Originally published in Family Circle Magazine in 1954 it was published in book form by Wonder Books in 1956. Unfortunately the illustrator is not listed. If anyone knows who the artist was please let me know.

UPDATE: "The illustrator is also Leonard Weisgard. Quite renown in children's literature." Thanks to "anonymous" for this update.