Franz Gruber (1) (1787–1863)

Silent Night, Holy Night, illustrated by Maja Dusíková

The words of the classic Christmas carol, Silent Night - Stille Nacht in the original German - are paired with the luminous artwork of Slovakian illustrator Maja Dusíková in this beautiful holiday picture-book. A brief note from the illustrator lays out the history of the carol - written on Christmas Eve in 1818, by Father Joseph Mohr, the priest of Oberndorf, Austria, and set to music by church organist Franz Gruber - while the main body of the book is given over to the beautiful words of this song, and the lovely illustrations of Dusíková...

Originally published in Switzerland as Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, this is the third picture-book presentation of this carol that I have read, following upon the ones done by Susan Jeffers and Lara Hawthorne. All told, I think I prefer this version done by Dusíková, whose artwork I have also enjoyed in Dorothea Lachner's The Gift from Saint Nicholas and Selma Lagerlöf's What the Shepherd Saw, both of which are also Christmas books. I loved the use of color and of light here, and the way the setting shifted from Austria to the Holy Land, and then back again. Recommended to anyone seeking picture-book presentations of this carol, as well as to those who are, like me, admirers of Dusíková's work.… (més)