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• Unabridged

Reviews (17)

Eloquent, poetic words; gorgeous pictures, but...
This is as nice an edition of Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales" as it is possible to imagine.It is beautifully laid out, in a wide children's picture-book format, with colorful and evocative paintings by illustrator Christopher Raschka.

If you've never encountered Dylan Thomas'vision of his childhood Christmas in Wales before, you're in for a real treat.Boys chase each other through the snow; uncles repair to the drawing room lighting pipes; aunts offer Useless Presents such as mufflers long enough to swing from, and my favorite - the Prothero family's house starts to go on fire, which the gaggle of boys attempts to extinguish with snowballs.

It's clear that a poet wrote this; every word counts not just in the mental images it provokes but also in its glorious SOUND - please try reading it out loud; it is positively musical.

But - I confess the current edition seems mismarketed to me.It's not really a children's book, although older children, at least, may enjoy having it read to them.The picture-book format (and the above product info's insistence that the reading level is "4 to 8 years") might make you, the reader, think of it as a good Christmas present for the pre-school set.But the language is dense and unfamiliar to little ones (the uncles smokes 'briars' not pipes), and the text is longer than a little kid will sit still for (my 5-year-old for example).

I read it to my very attentive 10-year-old as well, and even he had trouble grasping all Thomas' delicious and metaphorical language.

So buy it; read it out loud to yourself in front of an evening fireplace, and Merry Christmas to you all.

Gorgeous voice
I had read excerpts of A Child's Christmas in Wales and loved what I had read, but it wasn't until I heard the entire tale in Dylan's voice on NPR that I completely fell in love with it.Dylan's voice is warm, deep, slightly wry, and rolling.

If you haven't read it or heard it, it's a retelling of a Christmas past to a child.And it has the same questions and interruptions as you would expect from a small listener and has the same weight of an exaggerated epic that you might expect from a favorite uncle or father telling one of their "days of yore" stories.

I've been told that Dylan's largest fan base is in the U.S., and A Child's Christmas in Wales has the same charming humor and nostalgia that Rockwell's paintings and Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days capture.An idealized notion of American middle class values, but a hint of self-mocking that keeps it grounded.I think he perfectly captures the expectations of Christmas and the feel of large family gatherings.A favorite bit in which he describes the Uncles who sit in the parlors and breath like dolphins and the pale little aunts that seem to accumulate at family holidays:

"Some few large men sat in the front parlors, without their collars, Uncles almost certainly, trying their new cigars, holding them out judiciously at arms' length, returning them to their mouths, coughing, then holding them out again as though waiting for the explosion; and some few small aunts, not wanted in the kitchen, nor anywhere else for that matter, sat on the very edge of their chairs, poised and brittle, afraid to break, like faded cups and saucers."

Every time I read or hear it I get some deep-rooted domestic compulsion and feel the need run out and buy eggnog, knit something (nevermind the fact that I don't know how to), or find a rocking chair to sit on in front of a fire.

Isbn: 0694514918
Sales Rank: 938587
Subjects:  1. Audio - Fiction - General    2. Audio: Juvenile    3. Fiction    4. General   

Isbn: 0806995866
Sales Rank: 1082461
Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    3. Fairy Tales, Folklore & Mythology    4. Fiction    5. Ireland    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Literature: Classics    8. Social life and customs   

Isbn: 063401823X
Sales Rank: 805586
Subjects:  1. Music    2. Musical Instruments - Piano    3. Seasonal    4. Songbooks - General    5. Music / Songbooks   

Isbn: 0634013270
Sales Rank: 1541952
Subjects:  1. General    2. Music    3. Songbooks - General    4. Music / Songbooks   

Features

• Abridged

Isbn: 1577488938
Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Other    2. Music    3. Religious - Christian   

Isbn: 0965501329
Sales Rank: 1924815
Subjects:  1. History    2. History / Military / World War II    3. Military - World War II    4. Personal narratives, German    5. Prisoners of war    6. World War II    7. World War, 1939-1945   

Isbn: B00004ZB3N
Sales Rank: 1523909
Subjects:  1. Book Accessories    2. Book Accessories    3. Christmas    4. Greeting Cards    5. Holiday    6. Animals   

Isbn: 0689713304
Sales Rank: 1662914
Subjects:  1. Carols, German    2. Children's 4-8    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Christmas music    5. Holidays & Festivals - Christmas    6. Musical books    7. Specimens    8. Texts    9. Juvenile Fiction / Holidays & Festivals / Christmas   

Editorial Review

Reviews (5)

Wow!Francisco Jiménez hits a HOME RUN again
This is yet another powerful children's book by Francisco Jiménez.His books, based upon his own experiences as a child of migrant farmworkers, are consistently both beautiful and instructive, heart-rending and joyous.For the vast majority of Americans who don't think about the lives of the people pick and process the food we eat, this book is a gentle, but strong reminder of the continued existance of poverty in our nation.

Attention Parents!
I actually found this book in a barber shop. The illustrations got the attention of my 2 year old. What a find! Every parent regardless of the age of their children should read this book at bed time. It had the attention of my four children, ages 2 to 10. I actually felt like I was reading my parents, and grandparents Christmas story. I was lucky enough to not have to live my life through rough times like this. I was able to have the education that my parents and grandparents worked so hard for, but only could dream of. This story helped me remember and appreciate all they had to endure. What a story it brought me back to my roots. Only warning I have for future readers... have tissues close at hand!

Reviews (1)

Reviews (2)

Truth at Christmas
A wonderful little collection of stories for anyone from eight to ninety-nine who wants to know the real truth of Christmas. Told out of the experience of the bravery of several of the folk of the Plateau Vivrai-Lignon in France during World War II, crafted by their most famous spokesman,Pastor Andre Trocme, these stories, mostly told at Christmas, combine poetry with unflinching truth. I especially appreciated the story of the elderly, misanthropic woman who, when she finally hears of the plight of the Holy Family, dismantles her own furnace and sends it, at considerable cost to her welfare, to Bethlehem.... Charm never hides the truth that prompted the stories--saving over 5000 refugees from Hitler. Still, the hope that is the point of the coming of Christ is portrayed in contemporary situations that certainly charmed me. I'm sending it to several friends, from eight to ninety-nine (pace Amazon.com)for Christmas presents.

A lovely little book about compassion and courage
What a rare and precious thing - a book to inspire compassion in children and adults, without heavyhanded moralizing. Nelly Trocme Hewett and Good Books have done the world of children's literature a great service intranslating Pastor Andre Trocme's one-of-a-kind stories. Words do instillcourage - in the people of a French mountain village 50 years ago, and now,thanks to this lovely little book, in the hearts of peopleeverywhere.

Reviews (7)

Look for her other recordings
Beautifully sung and nicely arranged ... her new Hispanic Christmas CD is just as good.

Gentle, Joyful, Beautiful Christmas Music
The reviewer from Franklin, TN, said it very well, but this album is good enough that I want to add my praise. Ms. Couch has a rich, sweet voice, and the accompaniments are beautiful, joyful, and gentle. (I think this CD will appeal to young children as well as adults.) I don't know enough about French carols to know how many Ms. Couch had to choose from, but I appreciate her focus on the real substance of the Christmas celebration. For those who speak French, or who care to look through a French-English dictionary, these songs' lyrics include some very moving proclamations of the wonderful love, joy, and hope embodied in Jesus' birth. This CD has really enriched my Christmas experience, and I wish I could translate some of the French verses to sing along with the English words I know so well.

Features

• Box set

Asin: B000031W6B
Sales Rank: 482688
Subjects:  1. Box Sets (Audio Only)    2. Choral    3. Classical    4. Orchestral & Symphonic   

Isbn: 085234483X
Sales Rank: 1882472
Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Historical - British    3. Religious   

Isbn: 0945084633
Sales Rank: 1168364
Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American literature    3. Appalachian Region, Southern    4. Christmas    5. Fiction    6. Literary collections    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Popular American Fiction    9. Social life and customs   

Reviews (1)

Editorial Review

Asin: B00004Y70P
Sales Rank: 393880
Subjects:  1. Chamber    2. Choral    3. Christmas / Chanukkah    4. Classical    5. Miscellaneous    6. Orchestral    7. V/a Compilations