Gift ideas -- art, literature, books for children; A moving Cbristmas story; The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. Boston: Neugebauer Press (distributed by Alphabet Press). 23 pp. $11.95.

Henry's ironic story, set in the early 1900s, of the love that prompts someone to give his or her dearest treasure to another is beautifully shown in this gift book edition.

Illustrations by the award-winning Austrian artist Lisbeth Zwerger are lively and elegant, as well as telling. The story is reproduced in script, rather than type, transcribed clearly by Michael Neugebauer himself; and the text is especially well placed in relation to the illustrations. In fact, the book itself appears to be a labor of love, adding another dimension to O. Henry's theme.