Silent Night, Holy Night [Hardcover]

werner thuswaldner (Author), Robert Ingpen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Silent Night, Holy Night! All is calm, all is bright.

Millions of people in the world can finish the lyrics to this beautiful and beloved Christmas carol. But not many can tell you where it came from. Now Wener Thuswaldner and renowned artist Robert Ingpen do just that.

From the lives of its poor and downtrodden creators, to how this glorious composition went on to transcend classes and cultures, the history of the song Silent Night is one worth celebrating.

Complete with the comprehensive song lyrics, this lushly illustrated and beautifully told story is a gift that embodies peace, love, and the spirit of Christmas itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. The history of the internationally known Christmas carol, Silent Night--how it was composed and first sung, and its connections across time and place--is celebrated in this handsome, oversize picture book. The young priest who wrote the poem and the composer who set it to music first performed their carol one Christmas in the early nineteenth century as a gift for their poverty-stricken, war-torn Austrian village. Ingpen (a Hans Christian Andersen Medal winner) evokes the old European masters in moving portraits as well as crowded candlelit interiors. One heartbreaking spread, in shades of gray and brown, reconstructs the famous World War I Christmas truce, when enemies sang the carol together and then went back to killing. In contrast, the outdoor carol-singers, past and present, are painted in radiant color. Occasional overwriting ("visionary inspiration") notwithstanding, the history and the art make this a great holiday title, an elemental Christmas tale of humble beginnings and universal power. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Wener Thuswaldner lives in Salzburg, Austria. Robert Ingpen lives in Anglesea, Australia.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Minedition (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0698400321
• ISBN-13: 978-0698400320
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,381,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars high reading level for a picture book, December 18, 2005

By 

"Miss Music Teacher" "meemums" (New Bern, NC United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Silent Night, Holy Night (Hardcover)

I'm an elementary music teacher who bought this book to share with my classes. It is a beautifully illustrated book, but the reading level is a bit advanced for a picture book. I found myself having to explain every page because it was written in such a idomatic, abstract way, with advanced sentence structure and vocabulary. The themes were a little grown up too: his Godfather was an executioner? The page about World War 1 was almost cryptic the way it was written. I had to read it twice to my 4th and 5th graders before they had even a slight idea what it was talking about. For my K through 3 students I found myself mostly summerizing and paraphrasing everything to keep from having to explain all the time. This book LOOKS child-friendly, but the writing style is definitely NOT.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art Makes It a Keeper, December 19, 2009

By 

Cay Gibson (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silent Night, Holy Night (Hardcover)

While I agree with Music Teacher that this book is advanced, the art work within makes it worth having on every Christmas shelf and basket.

While it is not worth 5 stars to a K-3rd grader, I'm sure most older readers (Jr. high-adult) would agree it earns its stars.

I cannot fathom why this book is no longer in print.