One Wintry Night [Hardcover]

Ruth Bell Graham (Author), Richard Jesse Watson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1995 | Age Level: 9 and up

Share the history of God's redeeming love, from creation to the resurrection. Illustrated with stunning, full-color art that will make this a family holiday keepsake.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-6. In a complex, lengthy picture book for older readers, an injured mountain boy, caught in a snowstorm at Christmastime, is taken in by a woman who lives in a log home the boy's grandfather helped build years before. After the snowbound pair become acquainted and the grandfather is notified of the boy's whereabouts, the woman launches into a telling of the Christmas story--beginning with the Creation and ending with the Resurrection. The setup seems awkward, but once the main story gets under way, things become more believable. Watson's artwork is unusually arresting, offering plenty of visual subtext to support the ambitious undertaking, which is actually a condensed retelling of the entire Bible. The double-spread Nativity scene truly commands attention, particularly the striking face of the young girl Anna, who has come to see the Christ child. Shelley Townsend-Hudson

From the Back Cover

The boy hunkered down and yanked his cap further over his ears as the wind rose to a roar across the ridge. . . . When a young mountain boy is caught alone in a sudden snowstorm, he takes refuge in a cabin his grandfather had helped to build many years before. The woman living there shelters the boy, attends to his badly swollen ankle, and spends the snowbound hours by telling the Christmas story--beginning with creation and concluding with the resurrection. In a magnificent blend of a contemporary setting with the history of God's redeeming love, Ruth Bell Graham has created a wonderful and unique version of the Christmas story. The rich texture of Richard Jesse Watson's illustrations makes One Wintry Night a captivating reading experience and a family treasure. With both instant appeal and an aura of timelessness, One Wintry Night will fascinate both those who have heard the Bible story many times and those who know only a few details. More than half a million copies of this Christmas classic have already been sold. Ruth Bell Graham is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and is the wife of well-known evangelist Billy Graham. She is the author of a number of successful books. Richard Jesse Watson is the illustrator of many award-winning children's books. His recent version of The Night before Christmas was a New York Times bestseller, and his Tom Thumb was given the Golden Kite Award by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books; Fourth Printing edition (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801038480
• ISBN-13: 978-0801038488
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Children's Books > Religions > Inspirational

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book all year long!, December 14, 1999

By 

Brenda (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Wintry Night (Hardcover)

This book shows the Bible to be one story...the story of a loving God saving a fallen people. It's a GREAT perspective. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story very well written. I read this to my kids every Christmas, one chapter per night...They're always begging for more! It's wonderful for Christmas, but the story is so much more than just a Christmas story! Highly Recommended!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ruth Bell Graham on the true meaning of Christmas, March 27, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: One Wintry Night (Hardcover)

Zeb is a young mountain boy who is caught alone in a sudden snowstorm. He ends up taking refuge at a cabin his grandfather had helped to build many years before. The old woman living there shelters Zeb, who has a badly swollen ankle, while they are snowbound. To pass the time she offers to tell him the Christmas story. Such is the simple premise of "One Wintry Night," but Ruth Bell Graham tells about much more than the story of the nativity of Jesus.

I find it meaningful that before the story begins we read the first eleven verses of the gospel according to Luke. These are, of course, essentially the same versus that Linus recites in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which certainly makes it one of the most recognizable Bible verses for young children. It ends with the declaration of the angel of the birth of a savior, and it is ultimately that aspect which Graham is trying to explain. After all, the whole point of the recitation by Linus was to explain to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about, and this proves to be Graham's goal as well.

Consequently, the old woman in this story begins the tale with the creation of the universe, and she spends more time talking about the story of Adam and Eve than the story of Jesus, which is told from the perspective of a boy named Aaron and his little sister Anna. Zeb is used to underscore the lesson by asking questions that set up each part of the old woman's narrative.

Richard Jesse Watson provides the illustrations, which are beautiful but sort of unnecessary to the story being told (I actually found myself ignoring them the first time through the book simply because I was caught up in the story Graham was telling; but they are some nice illustrations here). The story has in-text citations for scriptural references, including one from the book of Micah, which is usually a good sign. "One Wintry Night" does a nice job of putting the Christmas story in a larger scriptural context, which should certainly be appealing to some parents looking for something along these lines for their children.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than A Christmas Story, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One Wintry Night (Hardcover)

I was first drawn to One Wintry Night by the illustrations, which are amazing. Realistic pictures give a younger child a lot to look at while you are reading the story. Once I started reading the story I was in awe. Mrs. Graham retells the story of the bible in a simple but captivating way. It is easy to see the paralells that occur in the bible - the way God looked for someone to save His people repeatedly - ending with our saviour. The book intertwines the importance of not only the birth of Christ, but his crucifiction and resurrection. Mrs. Graham also writes wonderful cliffhangers from one chapter to the next which had my five year old begging to read more. This is definitely a book I will read over and over again and will recommend to my friends (or buy it for them!) This is a great way to help introduce a young child to God's character, the bible, and christianity.