Silent Night: The Song and Its Story
Grade 1-3?This account of the beloved carol's history pays tribute to its creators and to the song itself. On Christmas Eve in 1818, in a small Austrian town, Father Mohr's church organ broke down. In compelling prose, Hodges recounts the young priest's struggle to write a poem that would bring the beauty of the Christ Child's humble, but sacred birth night to a congregation that expected to celebrate with music. Franz Gruber, a local schoolmaster, wrote a simple tune to accompany the words. With its creators all but forgotten, "Silent Night" eventually became an international favorite. Hodges includes stories about wartime enemies who forgot their hatred and joined together, sometimes across enemy lines, to share a few verses of the song. Full-page watercolor illustrations capture quaint mountain village scenes. Glowing shades of gold and brown accentuate faces lifted in harmony, creating feelings of warmth, wonder, and contentment. While very different in its approach and artwork from Granfield's treatment of the subject, Hodges's Silent Night is more versatile and is a better bet for library purchase.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.