When It Snowed That Night [Hardcover]

Norma Farber (Author), Petra Mathers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

When it snowed that night, the stork saw the beckoning star, the turtle hitchhiked to the manger with the Kings, the dove sang "coo-roo," and the hog offered his curly tail to be pulled by the Baby Jesus as the animals gathered in the stable. This beautifully designed collection of nativity poems is also an enchanting ode to motherhood. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ages 5-8. Presented in picture-book format, these short poems are first-person expressions of visitors to the Nativity, representing the points of view of animals who followed the Christmas star, Mary, three queens who came late, and a mother who didn't follow the star but tended her own baby instead. Traditionalists will be surprised to find a sloth making its way to Bethlehem, but the sloth's poem is one of the more effective, beginning, "As everyone knows, / I begin to begin to travel / when the wind blows.ÿ20/ From bough to bough to bough, / Single-handedly I move. / Easy if you know how." Mathers' illustrations, painted in a naive style and reproduced in full color, vary from mundane to effective to striking. Recommended for larger collections. Carolyn Phelan

From Kirkus Reviews

Forget the legions of contrived tales about this animal or that making its way to the Manger; the late Farber (d. 1984), in an imaginative cycle of poems--whimsical, lyrical, and wise- -introduces a dozen creatures, follows their intersecting journeys, celebrates (in the title poem) the moment when they all help keep the melting snow from the Baby (``Cricket clung fast to a ceiling-hole,/Dove plugged a gap with his beak...Giraffe held his head against a crack...and the Three Grand Kings/raised a parasol...'') and, for balance, embellishes the story with three Queens who ``came late, but not too late,'' bringing ``a homespun gown of blue,/and chicken soup'' before hurrying home to their own children and chores. Farber's lucid, elegantly designed paintings glow with color and light, with just a touch of humor and another of awe. Lovely. (Poetry/Picture book. 4+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books; 1st edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060217073
• ISBN-13: 978-0060217075
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,452,167 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

5.0 out of 5 stars Chistmas Poetry for New Mom, December 9, 2010

By 

Evelyn D. Saenz (Miami) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When It Snowed That Night (Hardcover)

Poetry of the birth of Christ that will speak to the soul of a new mom. When I was a new mom I could never read the final two poems without tears coming to my eyes. They speak of mothers who know that their children come first. The Queens Came Late speaks of making sure that someone is there to care for their own children before they can go see Mary's newborn babe and that they need to get back home to their own children. The last poem is written from the viewpoint of a new mom who knows that Mary would understand that she needed to stay home because her child needed her just as much as the baby Jesus needed Mary.

This would be an ideal present for a new mom.