cover image There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve

There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve

Pam Munoz Ryan, Pamela Munoz Ryan, , illus. by Dennis Nolan. . Hyperion, $15.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-7868-5492-9

In poignant poetry, Ryan (Esperanza Rising ) reminds readers that the first Christmas Eve was not the wintry celebration that many children know today, but rather a miraculous balmy night in a faraway desert. Nolan (The Perfect Wizard ) effectively emphasizes the contrast, shifting his gorgeous watercolors from modern blue-white snowy landscapes to the sandy stone buildings, palm trees and dunes of long-ago Bethlehem. Luminous portraits of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and attention to period detail have the effect of transporting readers to that first glorious Christmas moment. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)