A joyful Christmas A treasury of new and classic songs, poems, and stories for the holiday

This pleasant mixture of 30 Christmas-related pieces as the title suggests, songs, poems, and stories is divided into two sections and could easily serve as the basis for a holiday pageant. Soul is comprised of 14 items relating to the first Christmas, including Silent Night, The Friendly Beasts, and poems by Nancy Willard and Pam Muñoz Ryan. Heart consists of 16 pieces revolving around modern Christmas celebrations. Included are A Visit from Saint Nicholas, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and stories by Gloria Houston and Katherine Paterson. Other contributors include Joseph Bruchac and Deborah Hopkinson. Readers of all ages will quickly get lost in these engaging works the familiar as well as the new offerings. Ransome's oil paintings shine, ranging from panoramic scenes of skaters scattered across a pond to close-ups of people both historic and modern. This would be a worthy addition to collections where Christmas books are in high demand.--Enos, Randall Copyright 2010 Booklist

Ransome's painterly illustrations dramatize this assortment of Christmas tales, poems, and songs. The selections range from the traditional ("We Three Kings," "A Visit from Saint Nicholas") to contemporary pieces by such writers as Nancy Willard, Joseph Bruchac, and Katherine Paterson. The collection as a whole is uneven, but the tried-and-true old chestnuts will always be crowd pleasers. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.