Sarah Chamberlain

The classic Christmas carol about the gifts the animals gave to the Christ Child - according to a tiny note on the colophon, the song originated in the twelfth century - is used as text in this gentle holiday picture-book, with accompanying linoleum block-print illustrations by Sarah Chamberlain. "Jesus, our brother, kind and good," it opens, going on to list the many gifts the friendly beasts provided. Each verse contains a different animal's declaration - "I, said the donkey, shaggy and brown / I carried His mother uphill and down, / I carried her safely to Bethlehem town. / I, said the donkey, shaggy and brown" - and the book concludes with all the animals gathered around the manger, having told of the gifts they gave Emmanuel.

This carol has been interpreted in picture-book form quite frequently - Tomie DePaola's The Friendly Beasts: An Old English Christmas Carol, Jan Burlingham's The Friendly Beasts: A Medieval French Carol, and Rebecca St. James' The Friendly Beasts: A Traditional Christmas Carol, to name but a few - but this presentation has a quiet charm all of its own. The linoleum block prints are simple but appealing, and the text (as one would expect from such a popular song) reads quite well. All in all, a sweet little Christmas carol picture-book, one which offers an appealing animal's-eye glimpse of the Nativity.… (meer)