Silent Night

Lovely retelling, using traditional,song lyrics with excellently realised artwork. Very good, overtly religious books tend not to sell through in our shop very well, but I really liked it.

Silent Night is a beautiful picture book to accompany the classic Christmas carol, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading it! The illustrations are perfect for the story, and make for a lovely Christmas book to share with the whole family.

A story most of us know but Lara Hawthorne brings it to life in this book. The illustrations are beautiful and helps us imagine this story.

This is an absolute must have for parents everywhere to share with their children. A beautiful non preachy book that lovingly shares the most well known Christmas Carol , Sikent Night, with the Holy Family being people of color. The illustrations bring the holiness of the moment to life. Angels of all colors - What a delight!!

I really like picture books that illustrate common songs that my children are learning. It is nice to be able to show them images that correspond with the words. The illustrations are more reminiscent of older picture books with simple, straight lines. It was interesting to see darker faces on Mary and Joseph and all the other characters in the story. I think the appeal of this book will be for pre-K children and those under about age 7. I think it is worth picking up to add to your Holiday Book collection.

The text is familiar to all of us who have grown up singing the Christmas Carol. The illustrations are beautiful and depict a more culturally accurate version of Mary and Joseph than most nativity scenes I've encountered over the years. I think this could make a nice holiday gift for children, or for parents/grandparents to buy for a holiday library.

For me Silent Night is one of the most emotive Christmas Carols there is and I love that this book has a short history of how it came to be written which is something I didn't know.

It basically does what it says on the tin. Teaches young children a beautiful hymn/carol and is complemented by good illustrations which trace the nativity story.

It is simple and effective and on a personal note I like that the author dedicates the book to her grandparents. I have great memories of faithful and Godly grandparents.

Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group and Frances Lincoln Publishing Group for an advance copy for review purposes.

A classic Christmas carol is transformed into a beautifully illustrated Christmas book for children and families. This is a gorgeous book to add to the Christmas book box and bring out every year to enjoy during the Christmas season. While targeted for children, I think this book would be a joy to give to anyone who counts this timeless Christmas song as a favorite.

Free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is out October 4th - in plenty of time to add to your Christmas gift list.

Something for everyone here.

A beautifully illustrated book based on the well loved Christmas carol. At the heart of this story is the navitity scene with Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem and the birth of their firstborn.

The scene around the infant Jesus is the central aspect of this story and from the Angelic messages to those drawn to worship the Christ child. The pictures are in vivid colour and have comic touches and incidental details to enhance the scene without distracting from their spiritual meaning.
Each pictoral page could be a Christmas card and the detail gives plenty of scope to talk about each scene which compliments the original story.

The words are just the wonderful lyrics of the carol, Silent Night. A well loved message and part of the tradition that makes Christmas special for so many people.
So a guaranteed success for Christmas and for many years to come, to add to one's family times every Christmastime, to join classics like Home Alone and Mince Pies.

I enjoyed the brief history about the origin of Silent Night and the reprinting of the carol in full.
I could hear soldiers singing in their native tongue these words across no mans land over 100 years ago.
A wonderful book to share with one's children and grandchildren.

Love love love this book! The illustrations are stunning, and so many details that will keep my toddler entertained! This will be a Christmas favourite in our house

What an adorable book that uses the Silent Night hymn. The illustrations are truly stunning and will make for the perfect Christmas gift for any little family member.

Silent night by author Lara Hawthorne is a great family read. Very informative and easy to understand.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of silent night in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, before I can properly review this, I have to admit something here. I spent 16 Christmases working in retail with non-stop piped carols (on a loop) that sometimes began before Halloween and for some reason often continued well into January. I now tend to cringe within the first few bars of most Christmas music (yes, I'm the party pooper at most Christmas gatherings). That said, Silent Night is one of the very few carols that I still enjoy. I suspect the slow tempo of the song makes it a poor choice for pumping up shoppers, so it is not often included in the rotation in malls.

In this picture book, Lara Hawthorne lushly illustrates the lyrics to Silent Night. Although this is not my favourite illustration style, I really appreciate the number of details on each page. I love it when the illustrations show a deeper story than the words on the page tell, and this book certainly does that.

At the back of the book is a brief history of the carol, and the full lyrics repeated. I think this would be a great addition to anyone's Christmas collection and I can see it being incorporated into many families' holiday traditions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens for providing me with a DRC of this book.

This book has the reverence and quality to quickly become that cozy traditional Christmastime read aloud (or sing aloud!) for all families. The collage illustrations speak so loudly to the wonder of the season of Christ's birth. One of my favorite details is that the author/illustrator choose to respect the actual skin color that Mary and Joseph would have had! This is one of the first Western Christmas books I've seen with the accurate skin color and I love that my children can see that every year in a book that will certainly become our own family reading tradition.

The book uses the song, Silent Night, as its only text. The lyrics are distributed among the gorgeous illustrations, which are really the mouthpiece that tell the story.

Beautiful!

Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne is a beautiful depiction of the classic carol, Silent Night. The illustrations are detailed and the textures are touch worthy. I wish the textures could be felt by the reader. I will be adding this book to our Christmas reading list and I recommend everyone do the same.

Beautifully illustrated this book is all the words to Silent Night the Christmas Carol. Throughout the book along with the words it shows pictures of that part of the song. The back of the book also has the history of the carol and information. So many children know the song but not what it means. This is a great way to teach children the true meaning of the song. I recommend this book for ages 4+.
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Absolutely lovely. What a beautiful rendering of a traditional Christmas song! My children will love this!

I read this with my children (ages 5,5, and 2), and they all liked the illustrations and given that they were petty quiet while I was reading, I think they were touched with a sense of reverence conveyed by both the song and the illustrations. Really nicely done.

I read an ARC from the publisher via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

What a beautiful book this is based around a familiar text. The illustrations are superb. This will definitely be a Christmas favourite in my house.

I love the Advent season and can be caught listening to Christmas carols long before it is thought appropriate. To foster similar love in my two children, we have a tradition of wrapping up books with winter or holiday themes and beginning after Thanksgiving, each daughter opens a book a day. Every year I add a couple new titles and remove lackluster ones. New to my collection last year were three picture books with song lyrics as the only text.

Silent Night by Lara Hawthrone is a beautiful book with the simple but profound lyrics of the beloved song sprinkled on each page. The illustrations are beautiful, and since I grew up seeing Jesus portrayed as white although he was a Jew in the Middle East, special mention must be made that I am drawn to the accurate representation throughout the book -- the holy family, shepherds, wisemen, even angels have dark skin.

I love this picture book and expect it will soon join in the Advent book rotation, where it will remain for years to come.

(I received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens in exchange for my honest review.)

I have read illustrated versions of Silent Night before, but I appreciate this one for a couple reasons.

For one thing, I really like the illustrations, especially the contrasting tones -- the dark backgrounds make the central figures and settings of the nativity story stand out all the more, perfectly portraying the paradox of both "night" and "all is bright," reminding us how strongly a light can stand out in the darkness.

Also, I appreciate that the people in the scenes here are portrayed as the Middle Easterners that they were, with dark skin, rather than Americanized as whitewashed Caucasians, which has long been a problem with the way the nativity (and Jesus in general) has been presented to children.

It can be a lot of fun to "sing" a book to children when we're used to reading, so this is a lovely way to package this beloved Christmas carol.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

This is a beautiful Christmas picture book! The lyrics from the carol "Silent Night" are accompanied by fabulous illustrations. And I absolutely love that all of the people have Middle Eastern skin tones!

This book is absolutely stunning! I really love the artwork in this book. Very well done! I would totally buy this for myself, just to have it out at Christmas time. :)

Silent Night by Lara Hawthorne is a beautifully illustrated picture book for children. The book uses the lyrics to the Christmas carol, Silent Night, which then have lovely illustrations matching the song. I could see that this would be a beautiful book to give as a gift to nieces, nephews and grandchildren for Christmas, so they could begin to understand the Christmas story.

The book also contains the history of how the song Silent Night came to be, and includes the lyrics on one page.

5 stars for this book! Perfect book for gift giving!

Thanks to #NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for a free e-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully illustrated children’s book that uses the lyrics of the famous carol, Silent Night, to tell the Christmas story.

There’s something about children’s books that appeals to a wider audience during the Christmas season.

The illustration in this book was a beautIful interpretation of the nativity set to the words of the hymn ‘Silent Night’. I loved sharing this book with my 7 & 3 year old children. They both joined in singing along, and asked for it to be read again.

I was glad to see the holy family and others being presented as being Middle Eastern as often I have only seen them as Caucasian, which isn’t accurate.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy in return for an unbiased review.

Silent Night is one of my favourite Christmas Carols, so to have the opportunity to read/sing this to my grandchildren was a happy experience. The biggest reason I liked this book more than others I have read before was the illustrations. I appreciate that the people in the scenes here are portrayed as the Middle Easterners that they were, with dark skin, rather than Americanized Caucasians that my grandchildren have grown up with. We have talked a lot in Sunday School about Mary and Joseph being refugees from the Middle East, so this presents that well. I loved the black background, it is night after all, and how the settings and characters stood out so well against it. I loved singing this to my granddaughter as she looked carefully at the illustrations. This would be a great addition to a family Christmas library as well as to any church or Sunday School resource library. This only made me love this song even more. The publisher, Lincoln Children's Books, generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

I loved the illustrations in this picture book illustrated the beloved Christmas carol. While Mary and Joseph look more African than Jewish, the illustrations are charming, reflecting the peace of Christmas. I would eventually like to purchase my own copy, but for now I'll keep this one until it expires so I may enjoy it for this Christmas season. This was a "read now" title at NetGalley. I downloaded it with the expectation of writing an honest review. I would eventually like to purchase my own copy, but for now I'll keep this one until it expires so I may enjoy it for this Christmas season. (4.5 stars)

This book is based on a song "Silent Night" while accompanied by beautiful Illustration. This book is something that I would gift to the young ones out there :) It's perfect for Christmas gift! Imagine singing along while reading this book with your kids? Wouldn't that be a wonderful experience? :D

Picture book interpretations of famous songs seem to be all the rage at the moment. In this festive and magical picture book, the well-known song Silent Night is paired up with illustrations of the even more well-known nativity story to create a beautiful Christmastime read.

The illustrations are flat, but the illustrator pulls this style off well and manages to express a lot of emotion despite (or perhaps because of) the apparent simplicity of the images. In particular the scene where Mary is staring down at baby Jesus really pulls at the heartstrings.

Another thing I loved about the illustrations was that the characters are not "whitewashed" as is often the case in Western depictions of the nativity.

I have no doubt that this book would be popular in any Christian - and indeed non-Christian - household during the festive period.

Beautiful illustrations! This is the story of the nativity told using the words of the famous Christmas carol, Silent Night. I would say this book is geared more to adults than children, though.

4★
This is an illustrated children's book of "Silent Night" the favourite old Christmas hymn (but no pictures of 'Round John Virgin' that I could find!)

The style is distinctively flat, like a collage, but there are millions of tiny details. Well, hundreds - okay, lots. Lots of details, more than I associate with works made from paper, which give the pictures a lot of background interest and should make for some good conversation with children about what the times were like back then.

The characters vary from very dark to very light and the clothing is plain, in simple colours. Except for the wise men. They're kings, and kings get the fancy cloth! There are some patterned rugs and mats, if you look for them.

The people quite obviously come from different places in the Middle East, while the angels come from around the world. They are all different colours. Even the sheep are dark brown, white, and grey. I think children will have fun trying to identify which animal is which and finding them in more than one picture. They'll enjoy finding the animals in the trees and on the roof, too.

There is an interesting history of the song at the end along with all the words.

The author illustrates each verse and then repeats the first one, giving her the chance to show different views. I have included six screenshots on my Goodreads and Amazon reviews.

This is a lovely, well-illustrated book destined to become a family treasure around the holiday season.

Simple yet beautiful is the best phrase to describe this book. Silent Night is the first ever carol I've ever learned, and seeing it illustrated beautifully really warms my heart. It is a perfect Christmas gift for all ages!

Celebrate the real meaning of Christmas with this beautifully illustrated book starring the world's most famous carol. This book can be read or sung as the lyrics of the song are the text and the stunning illustrations bring the words to life.

Children will have the opportunity to observe two Middle-Easterner people with dark skin named Joseph and Mary on a long and tiresome trip to Bethlehem. They are chosen by God to have the distinct privilege of giving birth to His son... the Christ child.

They along with the shepherds, the angels and the three wise-men partake in a sacred and holy night, one never seen before or since. The darkness of the night is highlighted and the contrasting settings and characters shine forth against that black backdrop. I love that. Everyone is hushed at what is transpiring and in awe that they are allowed to be a part of this Christmas miracle. The story wraps up with the words: "Sleep in heavenly peace" befitting for the most glorious night that has ever transpired.

At the end of the book the full text is provided and the history of how this beloved carol came to be. "Silent Night" is stunning and would be a perfect addition to your Christmas book collection one you can read again year after year. I highly recommend it.

Though the words of this picture book are very familiar, the illustrations really make the story shine. I loved seeing more authentic character designs, with all the figures having darker skin tones. The style of the art was nice, too--with a whimsical, almost Assyrian vibe and soft textures within the colors.

A lovely addition to anyone's Christmas collection!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is all about the illustrations. It’s the lyrics to the traditional christmas song so the wording is probably not a surprise. The illustrations are amazing, and not just because the people are illustrated as POC instead of a white. It’s so refreshing to see that in this story. Normally Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are epictured as a white family, and here they match the story setting. Plus, I love the story of how the song came to be that is included at the end. Great job!

Wonderful illustrations! A good accompaniment to the carol and I enjoyed singing and following along with the pictures.

This little book is a gorgeously illustrated version of the familiar Christmas hymn, Silent Night. Hawthorne’s illustrations reflect a needed and more accurate vision of the Holy Family’s ethnicity. I look forward to singing and reading this with the tiny humans in my life. It’s also helpful that Hawthorne has included a short history of Silent Night and its composer for older readers. This would be a lovely Advent or Christmas gift for families celebrating the birth of Christ.

Beautiful illustrations to accompany a seasonal song. There is plenty to look at in the images. This is a warm and inviting book to share with youngsters around the holidays.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.