Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poinsettia_2.jpg
Day 9
Have you ever wondered why our shops sell poinsettia plants at Christmas. To understand this you need to read The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola or you may find a copy of The Miracle of the first Poinsettia - a book I discovered in a school library this week.
For this post, however, I am going to share a book about a different Christmas flower - helleborus niger or Christmas Rose. The Christmas Rose by Wendy Blaxland was published in 2014. Happily I can tell you it is still available and it would be an excellent addition to a school library as a way of giving a different perspective on the traditional nativity story. You can read the background to this legend here.
Jesus has been born and everyone has a gift - fresh cheese, my new shawl, an orphan lamb. The young girl, who has been caring for the orphan lamb, has nothing to give, she is too young to make this long journey and so she is left behind.
"It wasn't fair! I would go, even if my legs were shorter than theirs.
The silver stars hung low to give me light and I knew the Bethlehem path well."
When she arrives at the stable she watches as gifts are given. Gold, frankincense and myrrh are presented each in turn by the finely dressed kings she saw on her journey to Bethlehem.
"I had nothing, not even a tuft of wool.
I looked around: not a flower, not a blade of grass.
Hot tears flowed; I could not hold them back."
A voice tells the young girl to look down. She sees perfect white roses where her tears have fallen. This is wonderful and wondrous. She gathers the beautiful blooms into a bunch and presents her gift to the new Saviour.
This story is gently told with beautiful soft focus illustrations. Here is a review with more story details.
I was interested to read this is Wendy's first picture book. This is made even better when you see her book was published by one of the best Children's book publishers - Walker Books. Wendy has published over 100 books and many can be found in our school library including some excellent Non Fiction series. I also found another version of this story about the Christmas rose by William H Hook. The Christmas rose is not really a rose at all. It is a hellebore and a member of the buttercup family. The black or niger is thought to relate to the colour of the roots. You can see one below.
Image source: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=947
Image source: https://tinyurl.com/yayxvbzq
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