A CHRISTMAS TREASURY: Very Merry Stories and Poems

The reflected glow of firelight flickers through the illustrations in this collection of traditional carols and tales (including a passage from The Wind in the Willows and Clement C. Moore's classic poem), lending a cheery warmth. Wielding his brush with equal parts humor and nostalgia, Hawkes spans the emotions of the season, from the winsome frivolity of field-mice caroling at the door to Mole End to the quiet reverence of "The Friendly Beasts," where barnyard animals, their outlines softly blurred, worship the babe in the manger. All ages. (Oct.)