THE FRIENDLY BEASTS

The familiar, old English carol using the voices of the animals approaching the Nativity scene serves as the text in this attractively illustrated, large-format version.

Each of the animals contributes something, from the donkey who carried Mary to Bethlehem to the cow who gave up manger and hay to the sheep who provided wool for a blanket for the Christ Child. The dove who cooed the baby to sleep is a recurrent connecting device, appearing in the stable window on several pages and in flight on the endpapers, which show a contemporary scene of a snowy village with carolers surrounding a glowing Christmas tree. The illustrations convey accurate details in settings and costumes as well as amusing expressions on the faces of the friendly animals, but the cover design is diminished by an unnecessary coating of silvery-blue glitter on the animals. A large trim size provides illustrations large enough for use with a group, and the musical notation is provided along with a CD with spoken and sung versions of the text.

As the only large-format edition of this carol currently in print, it will be a useful purchase for use with children at Christmas sing-alongs or church programs as well as at home.