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32 pp.
| Frances Lincoln
| October, 2020
|
TradeISBN 978-0-7112-4540-2$16.99
(2)
PS
Christmas Choir series.
With a similar look and sensibility to her Silent Night (rev. 11/18), Hawthorne presents a homey, folksy version of the carol (written in the 1700s per a conversational appended note) that's not old-fashioned. The folk art–style illustrations, in digitally edited gouache, depict a verdant rural scene; as our narrator contemplates her ever-more-crowded home, gifts spill out of doors and into the surrounding countryside. A creamy background provides the white-of-the-page, while spreads are filled nearly to the brim with subdued hues and patterns galore. A lively cast of players winds in and out of scenes--culminating with the narrator's "true love" (another woman) pictured amidst flourishes of hearts and stars beneath that pear tree. A search-and-find spread concludes the book.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2020
32 pp.
| Quarto/Lincoln
| October, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-1-78603-066-5$15.99
(2)
PS
With gouache paintings rendered into collagelike illustrations via Photoshop, Hawthorne's version of the Christmas carol notably features Mary, Joseph, and Jesus as a brown-skinned family. The text includes all three verses of John Freeman Young's English translation, thoughtfully divided and carefully placed. The figure and animal drawing is supple, with good contrast between the black and midnight-blue sky, the angels' white wings, and the delicate coloring of textiles.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2018
2 reviews
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