Christmas in the Barn

By Margaret Wise Brown

Book Overview

From the bestselling author of classics like Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny comes a Christmas story sure to delight readers for generations. With gentle, lyrical text from Margaret Wise Brown and heartwarming illustrations from Caldecott Honor-winning artist Diane Goode, Christmas in the Barn introduces young readers to the story of the first Christmas. What child is this / who is born here / Where the oxen / stomp and peer...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060526343
• ISBN13: 9780060526344
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 11.0" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

My review of this Christmas In the Barn, artist Anna Dewdney edition, is not going to please many pe

So what if I did grow up a child of the Sixties....I've grown old enough now to appreciate the values of the Fifties. While recognizing that Margaret Wise Brown is an experienced and accomplished author of children's literature, this version of Penguins Published Christmas In The Barn, was a disappointment to me. I buy children's books for content and artwork, equally, and this was a disappointment on both scores. I must say the binding, the cover, and the satin pages are truly of outstanding quality, yet someone must have been off duty when it came to trouble-shooting this book's shortcomings. What I liked is not as big a list as what I didn't like about it, but most of my complaints are about the lazy feel to the artwork. Only one of my disappointments was with the author's poem. At first the rhyme started out cute enough but where Mary and Joseph go to the barn it reads "And two people who had lost their way walked into the barn at the end of the day". It does rhyme, so perhaps this noted author with all kinds of awards behind her was just taking liberties, which she is of course allowed to do, but I wish she had taken the time to come up with a more honest way to rhyme without saying that the parents of Jesus had 'lost their way'. There was no room at any of the Inns in town and they were forced to take the stable.....well, sort of forced because God wanted Jesus to be born in a stable or it would not have happened that way. God orchestrated it so that every man on the earth would know that ALL men can come to Him, no position in life is too low for God to reach into the heart and redeem us all because His very own son was born in a barn, the lowliest of all places to be born. That was just my first ugh moment reading this book and actually my only issue with the poem which is cute otherwise. My biggest dissatisfaction was due to the artwork which seemed like had been done in a rush. I found none of the artwork enjoyable. The faces of the animals are a bit more clear than the faces of the people. It all seems sloppily done, as if contrived in a hurry, like the artist forgot about the assignment, then realized it needed done, and fast. And if that's not bad enough, five pages featured blackened figures as the focal point. Really? Three pages of Mary and Joseph were painted as blackened faceless figures, oh and the innkeeper was black as well on four additional pages, and then the Kings were all black figures on three other pages! Come on! The Kings characters are an artist's best opportunity to showcase some flourishes of vibrant colors and embellishments and this artist chooses to depict the Kings in totally black silhouettes.....on Three Pages? Seriously? What a waste! Even this amateur artist can see what an opportunity here is lost to show off some artistic skills with the three Kings in eye-catching colors and details! And this is a children's book! It is supposed to capture the heart and attention of children with blackened figures? Wow. Someone was not on duty when this version was coming to print, I'd say! The quality of the binding, the cover, and the satin pages is a waste of the publishers' money when the artwork shows such a poor depictions of Margaret Wise Brown's poem. And it's a shame since the artist Anna Dewdney's Lama Lama books did so well. Maybe she was going through something hard in her life and just didn't have the time to put into her artwork, but she should have bowed out, then, or someone in publishing should have caught on to the poor quality of this particular artwork before investing money to publish it. Big disappointment. And then there's the paperback version published by Harper Collins, an equally excellent puplishing company that uses quality materials who chose honored artist Diane Goode, who does have more clear artistic depictions of animals and people. Worth noting, however, this version sets the scenes in snow with fir trees, modern houses and attire, and a modern day big red barn. So,

christmas in the barn

This book came in the time I was given that it would arrive. It came in good condition and has not been used yet, as it is a Christmas gift for the grandchildren.

a keepsake book

What a wonderful telling of the Christmas story, or any birth for that matter. It's written in a similar style to the Big Red Barn and is just as lovely to read. It's a perfect addition to our Christmas books and would also make a wonderful baby gift.