The Twelve Days of Christmas

by Emma Randall (Illustrator)

Overview

With art so stunning it glistens like freshly fallen snow, this cozy Christmas tale is an essential treasure for anyone celebrating the holiday season!

Bursting with gorgeous illustrations that accompany the lyrics to this classic carol, the festive artwork and jolly characters capture all the merriment of the popular Yuletide tune. Randall's style feels charmingly classic while also strikingly contemporary, making this particular partidge in a pear tree the perfect one for the modern reader. The joyful pictures and beloved song are sure to make this a recurring holiday favorite.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780515157635
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/17/2017
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Emma Randall is a UK-based illustrator specializing in children's book illustration, both fiction and nonfiction.

Editorial Reviews

09/04/2017
In this charming and traditional staging of the classic carol, a girl with a long braid of brown hair and a variety of colorful winter dresses, coats, and capelets celebrates Christmas in her country village. Set against white backdrops and framed by dainty borders of flowers, ribbons, and music notes, Randall’s ornamental illustrations call to mind Eastern European folk art while conjuring an ever-growing and multiracial cast of milkmaids, dancing ladies, feather-capped pipers, and other festive arrivals, including the requisite geese, doves, hens, and other birds. The girl’s “true love,” a boy wearing a neckerchief and cap, finally makes an appearance after the 12th day of Christmas, once the busy assortment of drummers, leaping lords, and others has departed, closing this holiday celebration on a quiet note of quiet, with the promise of spring suggested in flowers peeking up through the snow. Ages 3–7. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

[*]"Top-notch production values abound, including the intriguing cover, floral endpapers, thick paper, and an appealing, accessible overall design." —Kirkus, starred review

From the Publisher

10/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—Those looking for a new, visual representation of the popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" have come to the right place. The lyrics are simple but the illustrations are lovingly painted and absolutely charming. Each spread features delicate borders of holly, drums, flowers, bows, and other decorative flourishes, and the diverse cast of characters and animals are drawn with sweet, smiley expressions. Artistically inclined children will appreciate details such as the designs on the ladies' dresses, the lords' outfits, and the pipers' uniforms, as well as the escapades of a certain goose with a maid's milk bucket. At the end of the story, the boy who is the true love of the little brown-haired girl emerges and they smile at each other, bringing many days of bounteous gift-giving to an end. VERDICT Not a must-buy since so many editions of the text exist, but this is an appealing stocking stuffer and an adequate addition to most libraries.—Rita Law, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2017-08-21
This handsome rendition of the classic holiday song features a striking black cover with a folk-art-style floral border and the title in gold letters. The visual story begins with a little girl dressed in an old-fashioned coat, receiving her first gift of a partridge in a potted pear tree. The smiling girl has light skin, pink cheeks, and a long, dark braid. On subsequent days, she receives the next gift on the left-hand page with the accumulated earlier gifts attractively arrayed on the right-hand page. The girl wears a different costume on each day, always with red bows on her braid. The double-page spreads effectively use white backgrounds and delicate floral borders augmented with tiny details appropriate to that day's gifts. In the later gift days with human characters, each person within a group wears a different style of costume, and half the characters within each group are people of color. The final spread shows the little girl back home with her pear tree and partridge, with a light-skinned boy coming up the path, tipping his hat to his "true love." Top-notch production values abound, including the intriguing cover, floral endpapers, thick paper, and an appealing, accessible overall design. A tip of the hat to this delightful rendition of an old song, updated with memorable illustrations and a modern cast of characters. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews