One Starry Night

by Lauren Thompson, Jonathan Bean (Illustrator)

Overview

One starry night, a cow watches over her calf, a nanny goat watches over her kid, and a pig watches over her piglet. For this one moment, every family in the animal kingdom is peaceful, just like Mary and Joseph watching over their own newborn nearby.

This simple yet profound book perfectly captures the universal nighttime vigil of parents everywhere while gently alluding to the presence of a nurturing creator who watches over all. Lauren Thompson is at her lyrical best, while Jonathan Bean's gorgeous, artisanal illustrations are the perfect match for this beautifully serene story of a truly Peaceable Kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689828515
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	10/04/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 5 Years

About the Author

Lauren Thompson is the author of several picture books, including the popular Mouse’s First series, Little Quack series, and the Wee Little series. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Apple Pie That Papa Baked as well as Leap Back Home to Me; Chew, Chew, Gulp!; and Hop, Hop, Jump! She lives with her husband and son in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

* “This arresting story of the first Christmas has a succinct, powerful, rhyming text and striking illustrations unlike any other version of the Nativity story, with art and words perfectly matched in an artistic tour de force. This unforgettable interpretation stands out as a bright, multifaceted star in the crowded constellation of Christmas Eve stories.” –Kirkus reviews (starred)

* “This tender, poetic retelling of the age-old story takes the form of a whispered prayer as it highlights the nurturing given to babies of many species. The art and the words strike just the right tone of reverence and delight. A lovely offering.”—School Library Journal (starred)

"In Thompson’s poetic, reverent text, two voices tell of the night Jesus was born. This peaceful ode to parental love is just right for bedtime reading. Bean’s digitally colored pencil illustrations portray the calm nighttime scenes in black, beige, dark gray-blue, and a sprinkling of white. The gentle words are beautifully matched by the strikingly composed art; both are infused with meaning and are powerful in their simplicity."—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

This arresting story of the first Christmas has a succinct, powerful, rhyming text and striking illustrations unlike any other version of the Nativity story, with art and words perfectly matched in an artistic tour de force.

At first glance, the story seems extremely short, even simplistic, and the illustrations washed out, lacking color or life. Look deeper. The gentle, soothing text is related in two voices, one describing mother-and-child pairs of animals, the second offering comforting words in the voice of the mother. The mother's words are a beautiful rhyming poem, the thoughts of a caring parent that can also be interpreted as the voice of God speaking to his children. The mother-and-child pairs move slowly through the dark night, illustrated in minimalist shapes in a desert-night palette of tan, gray, gray-blue and black. The animal pairs gather around Mary and Joseph and their newborn in a tableau of simple shapes against a huge tree, with the merest hint of a shelter and manger. Look deeper again. Both the muted illustrations using simple shapes and a flattened perspective and the simplified text from two viewpoints indicate the influence of cubism, a different way of looking at a complex subject.

This unforgettable interpretation stands out as a bright, multifaceted star in the crowded constellation of Christmas Eve stories.(Picture book/religion. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Bean's atmospheric illustrations, in earthy tones of black, taupe and slate blue, give this quiet tale of maternal devotion a distinctive and appropriately lovely look.
—The New York Times Book Review

Pamela Paul