Kevin Crossley-Holland

I've admired Kevin Crossley-Holland as a collecter and interpreter of traditional stories and legends. And I was interested by the idea of reading his story of his childhood. He's not much older than me, and our backgrounds aren't so very different.

The account is told by means of themed chapters, so it's not a continuous narrative, but he's told his story by the end of the book. Though clearly a child with friends, it's his strong relationship with his younger sister that shines through, as well as his ability to make his own amusement: such as building up and sustaining his interest in his own personal museum. Very different characters, his parents stayed together for his and his sister's sake. He wonders why. His reflections throughout the book about their failed relationship give the book its underlying sadness, despite his depiction of an essentially happy childhood.… (mais)

The Nativity Story is told from a series of different perspectives—Mary, the innkeeper, the ox, the donkey, the shepherds, the Wise Men, Herod, and Jesus—in this Christmas picture book from English author/illustrator team Kevin Crossley-Holland and Peter Malone. As the narrative progresses, each two page spread features text from the perspective of a new figure, telling what happened, until the final page, on which Jesus declares "I am the Light of Light. The baby who will cradle the world. In your heart, hold me. I will never leave you."

Given the absolutely gorgeous cover and interior artwork from Peter Malone, and my fondness for some of author Kevin Crossley-Holland's other work, I expected to like How Many Miles to Bethlehem? more than I did. I like the idea of the narrative, and found the painterly visuals here simply breathtaking, but somehow the text itself just did not work for me. There were moments when I found it poetic, but for the most part it simply felt disjointed and disconnected, like a series of vignettes or impressions, all strung together, but not really cohering into one story. Perhaps if there had been more text, or slightly fewer perspectives, this might have worked better. Still, I did enjoy it, if for no other reason than that it gave me the opportunity to see the Nativity Story unfold in Malone's artwork. I will certainly have to seek out more of it, but as for this one, I don't highly recommend it, and think there are better Nativity Story picture books out there, not least, titles like Jan Pieńkowski's Christmas (you can't do better than the Gospels!).… (mais)