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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
(4)
K-3
The familiar Christmas song is illustrated with vibrantly colored paintings showing an animal-loving Holy Family (the donkey carries pregnant Mary and two cats) surrounded by boldly drawn beasts. While some pages seem to lack focus, the riot of patterns (polka-dots, swirling lines, checkerboards) becomes mesmerizing as subsequent spreads show the family more and more crowded by adoring animals and people. Music is included.
32 pp.
| Chronicle
| November, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-8118-2821-2$$12.95
(3)
PS
Festive holiday illustrations of a young rabbit and his parents decorating their home, going to church, baking cookies, and opening presents accompany the lyrics to the popular Christmas carol. Although the activities in the pictures do not always correspond exactly to the words of the carol, the characters' joy in their Yuletide celebrations is contagious.
(2)
K-3
Photographs by
Henry Onorati
&
Harry Simeone.
[other by and photographs by = Words and music by]Keats's lush interpretation of the familiar Christmas song (pa-rum-pum-pum-pum) has been reissued in what must be a sharper, brighter printing than the original. Collage illustrations combine patterned paper with boldly brushed pigments to create sweeping page spreads. Facial expressions and body language provide a subtle and satisfying subtext. The melody is appended.
Reviewer: Lolly Robinson
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
December, 1968
32 pp.
| Hyperion
| September, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-7868-0587-0$$15.99
(3)
K-3
A parade of porkers appears in five Christmas songs, including "Jingle Bells," "Up on the Housetop," and "We Wish You a Piggie Christmas." The funniest of Fine's illustrations appears in "The Twelve Days of Christmas," as turtles waving peace signs, hens wearing berets, pigeons squawking on cell phones, and a host of other guests overwhelm a bespectacled pig. Full of bright color and visual jokes, this offering is high-spirited fun.
26 pp.
| Candlewick
| October, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-7636-0375-9$$15.99
(2)
PS
Silly rhymes, cheerful pictures of animal farmers, and a culminating feast make this a child-appealing rendition of an old carol. The text appears on rather formal left-hand pages with a few collage elements; full-page bucolic scenes in watercolor grace the right-hand pages; the whole is brought together with a celebratory gold border. A musical score, a map of the animals' farms, and a foreword by that master of song, John Langstaff, are included.
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Maja Dusikova.
Softly muted paintings reverentially illustrate this simple interpretation of a traditional Christmas carol, written in Austria on Christmas Eve in 1818. Expressing the carol's universality, the setting changes from a mountain village to a desert encampment to the North Pole, but the book begins and ends with baby Jesus in the manger. Music and all lyrics are appended.
32 pp.
| DK
| October, 1998
|
TradeISBN 0-7894-3483-0$$12.95
(3)
K-3
Thirteen familiar carols are presented with easy piano arrangements and guitar chords. Each song receives a spread with music on the left and additional verses and a reproduction of a painting on the right. In most cases, the tunes are the ones most familiar to Americans. Some of the well-chosen art is old and well-known, some is striking but less familiar, and some is contemporary. No notes on the art are included.