Christmastime
*Starred Review* Christmas Eve gets a particularly imaginative treatment—a lovely one, too—in this almost wordless story that follows a brother and sister from their front hall to the North Pole. Each picture, done in Jay’s distinctive, folk-art style, layered with crackle varnish, uses symbols of the season to bring the children closer to seeing Santa. The one or two words of text per page (holiday card, stocking, reindeer) are matched by vignettes of different shapes and some full-page images, and many pictures are set against snowy backgrounds. Whimsy abounds as carolers pass a lively snowman who then sleds close to a polar bear. Though at first glance straightforward, the pages hold many surprises for those who look closely: characters from previous pictures dot the succeeding landscapes, and images from Christmas songs are tucked in the paintings for children to find (the Little Drummer Boy is a toy in Santa’s workshop). Since Jay is British, some of these songs, like The Holly and the Ivy, won’t be as familiar as others; but who doesn’t know Rudolph, even though he is wearing a ski sweater? Perhaps the best part of this book is that it carries with it the magic of Christmas: the unexpected, the warmth, the wonder. Preschool-Grade 1. --Ilene Cooper