Father and Son: A Nativity Story (review)
2006; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 60; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2006.0740
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: Father and Son: A Nativity Story Elizabeth Bush McCaughrean, Geraldine Father and Son: A Nativity Story; illus. by Fabian Negrin. Hyperion, 2006 [32p] ISBN 1-4231-0344-0$16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad 6-10 yrs As Mary lies sleeping after giving birth to her son Jesus, her husband, Joseph, has an anxious night worrying about how he can possibly fill his role as earthly father to a divine child: "How can I teach him the Scriptures? It will be like reading a book he wrote himself!"; "What games shall we play, boy, you and I? I mean, how can you rough-and-tumble with someone who pinned the ocean in place with a single, tack-headed moon?" Joseph's concerns are ordinary and specific, citing just the activities that children will recognize as parental responsibilities and pleasures, and McCaughrean's poetic phrasing perfectly befits the image of the man so many will come to call Saint. Negrin's illustrations, though, impair the text's effectiveness. The page design is appealing, with a wide side panel enclosing the narration and subtle motifs of birds and flowers above and below, but the drafting is awkward and the color choice tends toward overilluminated garishness. A golden blaze of holiness nearly obliterates Joseph and jaundices the Baby; limbs are often too bulky and heavy to support the lighthearted activities the scenes depict. Still, Joseph is too frequently relegated to the back of the stable in Christmas observations, and McCaughrean offers a refreshing, imaginative perspective on the carpenter entrusted to raise a King. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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