Mary Has a Baby

This sprightly Nativity story is energized by Leever’s diorama-style illustrations, an inventive blend of collage and three-dimensional cut-paper figures, objects, and settings. Scatterings of strips of yellow and gold paper become hay in the stable where Mary and Joseph take refuge, curls of white paper bring dimension to the coats of woolly sheep, and a blonde angel floats in the night sky with help from a pair of feathery wings. Van Hooft’s simple language and sturdy rhymes sustain a tender, comforting mood (“There is no crib, no cradle,/ just a manger full of hay./ But a burlap sack becomes a blanket,/ and the baby sleeps away”) and Leever’s smiling cast of humans and animals extends the joyful tone. Two spreads featuring overhead perspectives, as if looking down at the sleeping Holy Family from the stable rafters above, are particularly memorable. Ages 3–up. (Sept.)