A review of The Friendly Beasts an Old English Christmas Carol by Tomie dePaola
As I was growing up (when dinosaurs roamed the earth so my son tells me), I heard a legend that the animals were given the gift of speech each Christmas at midnight. It fascinated it me and I found it also fascinated my daughter. She asked me one day what would the animals say on Christmas if they could speak. When I found the answer when I found this book.
This particular book contains the lyrics to the old English carol about the animals speaking in the stable in Bethlehem. Each of the four animals in the stable speak of their gifts to the Christ Child. The book contains the musical notation for those who can actually carry a tune (anyone who has sat near me at Mass knows I am not one of those).
If you have not experienced the beautiful artwork of Tomie dePaola you don't know what you are missing! His illustrations are so wonderful! I wish I could scan at least one of them to reprint to at least give you an idea of their richness. Young children especially will love dePaola's animals and the wonderful colors he uses.
My lovely daughter, Cari, who suggested this book for review, offered to provide an expert opinion since it is a child's book. Cari, age 9, says, " The one thing I like about this book are the pictures are gorgeous. It is written by my favorite author, Tomie dePaola. I like it because it is about Jesus when He was born in the manager. It is a fun book."
The last verse of the book states,
" And every beast, by some good spell,
In the stable dark was glad to tell,
Of the gift he gave Emmanuel,
The gift he gave Emmanuel."