Summer and Bird, by Katherine Catmull
I'm ten chapters in, reading it out loud, and having the listeners say, "Another chapter, please..." Catmull spins a story out of the four winds, rich in family love and folklore. I've spent many an hour on the edge of a forest; Catmull captures that threshold feeling of possibility that moves this story of two sisters, lost in the woods. She has an uncanny sense -- a bird's eye view of things -- that undergirds this magical tale.
I'll have more to say when I've finished it, but I've read enough to know that I recommend it for your Christmas list.