Customer Reviews

The Friendly Beasts

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I believe this is a 12th Century French Carol -- and not an old English Carol,as stated. Well, regardless of which side of the Channel it comes from, it's charming. If ever you have the chance to hear this sung by little ones, don't miss it -- it was meant for their sweet voices.

I have an old copy of this book and read it to my toddler this Christmas season. It is beautifully illustrated, with a copy of the music at the back. Highly recommended.

I have loved this Christmas carol since my children learned it in their Episcopalian school. It captures the essence of the season...giving of yourself is the most precious gift of all. Each "beast" in the stable honors the Christ child by giving of itself. What a powerful message illustrated by one of the finest authors/illustrators, Tomie dePaola. I have urged every parent I know to purchase a copy.

Tomie dePaola, born of Irish and Italian parents, now, at the age of 75, is a noted artist of childrens' books, and many other art media formats. His illustrations are very simple, but constant. Most of his illustrations are contained within a bordered page, as if that page were meant to be framed. As a teacher of young children, I became fascinated with his artistic presentations, which allowed the children to enter into the story. Many of his books are based on legends that have been handed down for generations.

Presently, I am using the miniature picture of a paperback cover, as the original library binding from 1981 is no longer available; I want you to see, at least, the cover illustration to make my point.

The Friendly Beasts is an old English Christmas Carol, with individual verses presented in the voice of one of the animals who gave "of himself or herself" to the Christ Child. Whether it was the hay for the manger, the wool for the Baby Jesus' blanket, the ride up the hill on its back, or the cooing lullaby that put Jesus to sleep that wonderful night, each animal gave a gift of his own. So, too, each of us has some gift to give to others; no two people have the same gift, nor can the two people give in the same way.

Every animal (beast) gave to the baby, a gift of himself. Each beast's gift is sung in a verse of this song. For the young child who already dabbles in reading music, there is one page of sheet music to play this song.

Artistically illustrated, the paintings for this book were done on handmade water color paper; the artist used transparent inks for the paintings, and hand lettered the type. This book was illustrated 29 years ago, but remains to be a classic. Give it a look!

This is such a lovely book. I bought it for my daughter for Christmas. It got here on Christmas Eve, just in time for her bed time story after putting Santa's cookies out. The illustrations are beautiful. And I love that the music is at the back of the book. This is a treasure for any family to add to their home library.

This is a gorgeously done telling of the 12th Century carol. The drawings make some of the language more understandable to modern readers. Sweet book for teaching the song to younger children.

I loved the pictures. My son (7 y.o.) read the book in school and asked for it for a Christmas present. I am very pleased
Great for all ages.

This book is an eyeful! Tomie dePaola's gorgeous illustrations to this simple story have a sort of pre-Raphaelite glow to them, and the animals' faces seem almost soulful. I also appreciated the music in the back that enabled me to sing the words rather than simply telling them. Reading the book to a one-year-old, I would prefer that more of the pictures actually show the baby Jesus rather than implying his presence, which is a little hard to explain to a very young child. But all in all, it's a lovely Christmas book for children and lovers of Christmas carols alike.

Of course, we can't help but sing this one to our son! He asks for it nearly every day- year round! The illustrations are amazing. Would recommend it to anyone.

You really can't go wrong with anything written/illustrated by Tomie dePaola. The Friendly Beasts is no exception. A lovely depiction of the English Christmas carol! My 2-year old nephew thinks this book is fantastic, and I can't wait to share it with my own little one as she gets a little bit older.