"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:
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