Christmas in the Barn

by Margaret Wise Brown, Diane Goode (Illustrator)

Overview

From the bestselling author of classics like Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny comes a Christmas story sure to delight readers for generations.

With gentle, lyrical text from Margaret Wise Brown and heartwarming illustrations from Caldecott Honor-winning artist Diane Goode, Christmas in the Barn introduces young readers to the story of the first Christmas.

What child is this / who is born here / Where the oxen / stomp and peer…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060526368
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/09/2007
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	258,669
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Margaret Wise Brown, cherished for her unique ability to convey a child’s experience and perspective of the world, transformed the landscape of children’s literature with such beloved classics as Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Other perennial favorites by Ms. Brown include Nibble Nibble, My World, Where Have You Been?, Christmas in the Barn, The Dead Bird, and Sneakers, the Seaside Cat.

Diane Goode is the illustrator of more than fifty beloved and critically acclaimed picture books, including the Caldecott Honor Book When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant. Inspired by the handwritten letters of the Founding Mothers, she begins with their quill and sepia handwriting and spins out the line to re-create their images and the remarkable events of their lives for a new generation of young readers.

Date of Birth:

May 23, 1910

Date of Death:

November 13, 1952

Place of Birth:

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Place of Death:

Nice, France

Education:

B.A., Hollins College, 1932; Bank Street College of Education

Website:

http://www.margaretwisebrown.com

Editorial Reviews

09/26/2016
A rough-hewn barn of stone and wood, nestled in a field dotted with sheep and palm trees, sets the scene for this newly illustrated version of Brown’s cozy 1952 story of Jesus’s birth. The late Dewdney’s canvas-textured, mixed-media artwork is well-matched to Brown’s spare, rhyming text, which incorporates phrases from hymns and the Bible (“Away in a manger, no crib for his bed”; “Because there was no room in the inn”) as it introduces a cast of animal onlookers (“The little mice rustled in the sweet dry grass/ Near the lambs and the kine and the ox and the ass”). The rugged landscape and lantern-lit barn are depicted at sunset, night, and daybreak from a variety of perspectives, the warm palette and forceful brushstrokes conveying the story’s hushed refrain: “And there they were all safe and warm/ All together in that ancient barn.” Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

10/01/2016
PreS-Gr 2—Originally published in 1952, with expertly crafted woodcuts by Barbara Cooney, then reissued in 2004 in a larger, full-color edition featuring bunny-strewn ink and watercolor art by Diane Goode, Brown's tender, lyrical account of the Nativity has been reissued once again, this time with illustrations by the late Dewdney of "Llama, Llama" fame. Using oil paint, pastel, pencil, and marker, the artist discards the two previous wintry depictions, providing a truer sense of place with appropriately spare flora set in a vast desert. The earthy pigments of the scenery and the animals are offset by a richly bright blue sky and colorful garments worn by Mary and the wise men. The animals are rendered with childlike accuracy and just a hint of cartoonish whimsy. The humans are a bit more realistic and in varying skin tones, leaving the ethnicity of the holy family open to interpretation. Multiple tableaus offer myriad details but are never too busy. They expand the succinct text, giving a quiet sense of grandeur while at the same time making readers feel a part of the events. VERDICT A lovely book for a new generation of readers.—Linda Israelson, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2016-08-17
Brown’s Nativity story, first published in 1952, is updated with new art from the illustrator of the popular Llama Llama series.The poetic, simple text follows Joseph and Mary as they are shown into the barn, where the animals wait. After the baby is born, the shepherds and wise men arrive, and an overhead perspective shows the whole cast of characters surrounding the newborn, “all safe and warm.” Dewdney’s striking, mixed-media paintings have a loose, post-impressionistic flavor, with some areas showing her brush strokes or the texture of the canvas surface. She employs a variety of perspectives and sometimes shows characters as dark, incomplete silhouettes. The faces of the animal characters have the most personality, while the faces of the humans are less distinct and sometimes even blurry. Two of the wise men have dark skin; the other people have light skin. Brown’s short, rhyming text is accessible and satisfying, with clever inclusions of well-known phrases from traditional Christmas carols, and her characteristic mastery of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition is on full display. Not all of her word pairs are exact rhymes, but they work nonetheless. One page includes the rhyming word pair grass/ass, which may require some explanation, as well as the unfamiliar word “kine,” an archaic plural for cows. Despite these minor quibbles, a new edition of any of Brown’s work is a gift worth celebrating. (Picture book/religion. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews