The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown illustrated by Barbara Cooney

 

The seed grows into a little fir tree. After seven summers a man comes early in Winter and carefully digs up the tiny tree. The tree becomes the focus of their Christmas and brings joy to his young son who is not able to walk or leave his bed. 

This pattern continues for several years until one Winter the man does not come. The little fir tree thinks he has been forgotten and then in a beautiful turn of events a group of caroling children arrive and leading the way is the young boy who is now able to walk into the forest to see his special tree. Interspersed throughout the book there are Christmas carols and other traditional Christmas songs.

The songs are: O Christmas Tree; O come little milk cows; Here we come a wassailing.

Margaret Wise Brown (1910 - 1952) wrote over 100 books including the famous Goodnight Moon and my personal favourite - An Important Book. I previously talked about The Dead Bird and A Home in the Barn. 

This is another very old Christmas book. I talked about Christmas Eve at the Mellops' yesterday.  The Little Fir Tree was first published in 1954 but my copy is a 1982 reprint. This book does have an old-fashioned feel but the story is a gentle classic. Here is the edition from 2009.

Reading A Little Fir Tree reminded me of a story from my childhood that has lingered with me decades after I read it in the 1960s. It told a similar story about young disabled (they used the word crippled) child who cannot leave their bed. This story was in the 'reader' Travelling On. The title is 'The Little Cuckoo Clock' and the credits at the front of this book list is as a story by Gilmore Wood. In this story a clock maker brings the child a beautifully carved cuckoo clock as a special Christmas gift. The miracle of the healing an unwell child is also the theme of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Heidi by Johanna Spryi.

The Animals' Christmas Carol by Helen Ward

"I, " said the donkey, shaggy and brown

"I carried his mother up hill and down

I carried his mother to Bethlehem town"

"I, " said the cow, all white and red

"I gave him my manger for his bed

I gave him my hay to pillow his head"

"I, " said the sheep with curly horn

"I gave him my wool for his blanket warm

He wore my coat on Christmas morn"

"I, " said the dove from the rafters high

"I cooed him to sleep so he would not cry

We cooed him to sleep, my mate and I"

"I, " said the dove from rafters high

One by one a procession of animals arrive on Christmas Eve with their gifts for the newborn child. The turtle dove brings a restful song. The lion comes to guard the stable door. The camels carried the wise men. The bees gave their wax for candles. The ram gave his wool for a blanket. And the donkey carried his mother safely to Bethlehem. In this version by Helen Ward she also includes a peacock, a moth, mongoose, cockrel and (wait for this one) a woodworm. 

This large format book is based on the 12th century carol - you can see the music above.

You may remember I have talked about the illustrator Helen Ward in previous posts. Her illustrations of animals are truly special and memorable. I love the way the fill the page.

This book is based on a real carol - The friendly Beasts lyrics and music score are provided at the back of the book. This book was published in 2001 so it is sadly now long out of print but I found a copy in a library. You can hear a little of the carol here. 

Tomie dePaola also illustrated a version of this carol:

Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne

Here is a scrumptious picture book designed by Lara Hawthorne to showcase the lyrics of the famous Christmas carol.

Stunning illustrations bring new life to a well-loved Christmas carol. Kirkus Star review

Image source: Christmas Printables

Silent Night was composed in 1818 in Salzburg, Austria. In 1834 it was performed for King Frederick Williams IV of Prussia and he then "ordered his cathedral choir to sing it every Christmas Eve."

During the truce of the First world War on Christmas Day in 1914 Silent Night and Stille Nacht were the sung on both sides of the trenches. I also highly recommend Christmas in the Trenches and Shooting at the stars as another way to explore this famous song.

I previously mentioned Lara Hawthorne has a new book - The Twelve Days of Christmas. Here are some other books illustrated by Lara Hawthorne which I have added to my "to read" list:

Last year I talked about Silent Night illustrated by Susan Jeffers. I found a couple of other books based on Silent Night. The one by Grace Lin is a board book.

Silent Night illustrated by Susan Jeffers

Her transcendent, large-scale compositions do indeed suggest a night when all is calm, all is bright. Publishers Weekly


Silent Night is the classic Christmas carol. This book includes the music. This book was republished in 2003 and so it is out of print but if the publisher does decide to reprint I would love to see additional pages about the origins of Silent Night along with the words in German. You can read more about the carol and also hear several different versions here.

There are three verses from the carol in this book:

Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. 'Round yon Virgin Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild.  Sleep in heavenly peace,  Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight! Glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ, the Savior is born, Christ, the Savior is born.

Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.  Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Image source Wikipedia

Here are some other beautiful books illustrated by Susan Jeffers. I think all school libraries should own one or two of her books because the art is truly special.

It would be good to link this book with Christmas in the Trenches and Shooting at the Stars - The Christmas Truce of 1914.