The Animals' Christmas Carol

What a treasure this book is. The story is sweet and simple enough for young children to understand, and the artwork is incredible - each page is more beautiful than the last. I would highly recommend it as a tradition to be read to and with children each Christmas Eve.

Based on the French Christmas carol, this book features sumptuous artwork which pays homage to the 12th century origin of the lyrics. Ink and watercolor paintings depict the animals and their gifts to the Christ child with the final spread revealing the radiance of the baby and the animals in adoration. This is a great addition to any Christmas book collection and will be treasured for years to come.

This book is a sweet take off on our family's much favorite Christmas Carol, "The Friendly Beasts". In the well known carol, the gifts to the Christ child, as given by the cow, the donkey, the sheep, and the camel, are described. But in this book, verses are added describing the gifts of many other animals which may have been present at Jesus' birth - even the humble woodworm is included, who contributed by not chewing on the wood of the manger. The story portrays the stillness, described in the Bible, of the night of the birth of our Saviour and how all the animals, under the command of God, heralded the birth through peaceful cooperation. The illustrations are beautiful. It is a story that my children love to read over and over again. And it always helps us to remember that God chose to enter the world not only in a humble stable, but surrounded by animals as the first witnesses. The first earthly gifts to God, as man, were given by animals, not wisemen and kings. This book is a true treasure. And for variety, the words may be sung instead of just read!

Helen Ward's lavish Christmas title, The Animals' Christmas Carol, is based on the medieval French carol and provides an animals' viewpoint of the birth of Christ in the manger. The animals provide a gentle lullaby and large-size inviting, warm color photos accompany their well wishes.