School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Rhyming text describes how the first Christmas Eve was anything but a silent night as owls hooted, Joseph's sandals flapped, and cows mooed. The energy and engaging rhythm of these sounds are infectious and will get children joining in, which may prove problematic at the end when "Mary groaned in pain, Joseph by her side/Then a shout rang out-Baby Jesus cried!" Johnson and Fancher's lovely artwork is filled with warm welcoming colors and highly textured details. A noisy account of the miraculous night.-Diane Olivo-Posner, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Mackall takes a contrary approach to the traditional silence of Christmas Eve, inviting readers to consider the sounds implied in the story of the birth of Jesus: the flap of Joseph's sandals as he walked, the noise of the crowd that so filled Bethlehem that there was no room left at any inn, the mooing of cows where Joseph and Mary finally lodged. Mackall's lines occasionally falter ("Hear the oomph! oomph! oomph! of the shoving game/ Down in Bethlehem where the faithful came"), but Johnson and Fancher's predominantly blue paintings are jewellike with their emphasis on the sky of "a miraculous Christmas night." Ages 3-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Employing the refrain "It was not such a silent night," this narrative poem relates the nativity through its sounds: the flip, flap, flap of Joseph's sandals as he and Mary enter Bethlehem; his rap, tap, tap at the door of the inn; the moo! moo! moo! of the stable's inhabitants; the flut-flut-flutter of descending angels. Mackall's carefully constructed verse emphasizes that while the first Christmas may not have been the "silent night" the old hymn would have us believe, it was a "miraculous" one. Johnson and Fancher' peaceful illustrations eloquently capture the range of emotions from Mary's weariness to the joy of Jesus' birth. katie bircher (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Mackall cleverly turns the idea of a silent Christmas Eve night upside down with this poetic view of the first Christmas, focusing on the sounds made by each participant in the Nativity story.A soaring owl ("who, who, who") leads readers into the story with a glorious bird's-eye view of Mary and Joseph below, followed by pages with the sounds of Joseph's sandals, his knock at the inn's door and the sounds of the animals in the stable. The perfectly rhymed verses continue presenting more sounds of those hurrying to the manger, leading to the concluding cry of the newborn child. The unusual rhyme scheme (abbba) repeats the same first line for each stanza"It was not such a silent night"with the following line presenting the next sound distinguished through larger type in italics. The rhythm also contributes to the effect, with a staccato pattern suggestive of hurrying feet. Evocative paintings jointly created by Johanson and Fancher have a unifying element of royal blue skies speckled with stars, echoed in the blue pattern of Mary's robe. The design of each spread incorporates motion in creative ways, with the text set in striking white type.A fresh take on the Nativity story is a tall order, but this beautifully realized offering sounds like a winner, in every way.(Picture book/religion. 4-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
