Description
Very Good+ dust jacket with illustration of animals in the stable. A mylar dust jacket has been added. The Very Good+ binding is blue paper over boards, blue cloth backed, Gilt images embossed on cover, gilt lettering on the spine, shelf-wear. The binding is tight and pages are clean. The book measures 8.7″ tall x 11.2″ wide.
Stated: First Edition
About the book (from the dust jacket)
When Marv and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. they took shelter in a stable. But before they arrived, many different animals already called the manger home. What did the beasts think of the miraculous birth? How did it change their lives? Here, on jewellike pages, some of the most beloved poets of childhood- Elizabeth Coatsworth, Rumer Godden. Phyllis McGinley, Norma Farber – give us their answers to those questions. We see the donkey praying for another glimpse of the child he helped carry so long; the barn cat wondering why princes who once worshiped cats are now kneeling to a baby; even a snake surprised that a mere boy would reach out from His crib to wipe the hate from a serpent’s heart.
In her first book, Beverly K. Duncan has created a gift that will carol its joyous message for years. And, as a bonus, each double page contains a mystery -tiny animals hidden within the background design for the eager reader to discover.
About the author (from the dust jacket)
Beverly K. Duncan grew up on a sugar plantation on the island of Kauai in Hawaii where her father was plantation manager. In that beautiful setting, her love of bright flowers was born.
Studying graphic design at the University of California at Berkeley, she began to develop the original, patterned style that has become her hallmark in the many magazine covers, notecards, giftwraps, and catalogs she has designed and illustrated She now lives with her husband Nathaniel, and their two children, Megan and Stuart, in a remodeled barn set in a large meadow in Ashfield. Massachusetts. There. according to Ms. Duncan, they “raised bees until the bears got into the hives; and goats, pigs, chickens, and geese until we got tired of that kind of farming.” Now they grow vegetables and have a large and colorful flower garden.
A note from the illustrator (from the book)
The background borders on each page of this book, with their floral designs, were inspired by medieval manuscripts, The animals are those mentioned in the poems, the plants associated either directly with the Christmas holiday or indirectly with other winter solstice celebrations.
For example: bedstraw and sainfoin, which were part of the manger hay, were said to have burst into bloom at Christ’s Birth Rosemary was thought to be sacred to Mary, who hung the Babe’s swaddling clothes on it to dry. Both hawthorn and the Christmas rose supposedly bloomed originally on Christmas Day, as did the New World poinsettia that was carried as sticks by a poor Mexican girl who could bring no other gift to honor the Christ Child at her church. English holly, symbol of everlasting life; laurel, that special sign of achievement; mistletoe, the ancient symbol of peace; white pine and hemlock – all evergreens -are here as well, as they have long stood for the birth of the One who is forever.
