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The First Christmas Night
Written by: Keith Christopher
Illustrated by: Christine Kornacki
Publisher: Ideals Books
Hardcover: 32 pages$16.99
Author bio:
Keith
Christopher is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, and educator, and he
has served as editor and producer for several major music publishers.
In addition to writing and studio producing, Keith served on the faculty
at the Blair School of Music of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He
lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.
Illustrator bio:
At a very early age, Christine Kornacki developed
a love for painting and bringing stories to life. After receiving a BFA
in illustration from the University of Hartford, her dreams of
illustrating children's books began to take shape, including
illustrating the best-selling The Sparkle Box
for Ideal's Children's Books. Christine's recent work also includes
illustrating the six-book series for the American Girl historical doll
characters Marie-Grace and Cecile. She spends her days painting in her
studio, which adjoins a charming cafe in New Haven, Connecticut.
Our thoughts:
This is a beautiful story book that retells the story of The First Christmas Night.
It captures your attention right from the beginning:
"'Twas the very first Christmas,
when all through the town..."
I love that this storybook is modeled after the very popular classic poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Since I love the classic poem, it was awesome to see how they could weave the Christmas story into that same poetic form.
The illustrations are so realistic they almost look like a photograph. Every page is like a portrait. This would easily be a beautiful coffee table book that even adults would enjoy.
Now, some people take issue with the blending of the two distinct parts of the Christmas story. They point out that most likely the wise men were not there the "first" night with the shepherds. Yeah...yeah...I understand that. But for the celebration of Christmas, we can't just leave the wise men out every couple of years to prove the point. We understand that the story is not necessarily linear, but we need to tell the entire story in a way that makes sense to even the youngest child.
We really enjoyed this picture book and plan on reading it again and again this Christmas season.
It's the most beautiful story ever told...the real reason we celebrate!
To learn more or buy:
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