Goodnight Manger – A Review

Goodnight Manger by Laura Sassi is  Laura’s sophomore picture book following her Goodnight Ark.  The book is illustrated again by Jane Chapman and the story follows the singsong story rhymes that Goodnight Ark had within it’s pages.   This time, it’s baby Jesus who can’t get to sleep. The animals are too noisy and the baby starts to wail.  Back and forth the animals try to help Mary and Joseph quiet  a squirming, twitching baby.  From hay for the baby’s head from the donkey, to feathers from the hen. Just when the baby is quieting down, the heavenly angels start singing their Hosannas, and soon he’s awake again.  Goodness all this noise in the stable!  Shepherds arrive along with sheep, then come wise men from far and wide, that baby’s sleep will be denied….. Okay, silly rhyme there, but reading the book to write this review had me rhyming myself!   Soon Mama Mary suggests a song and all the wise men and shepherds start singing a lullaby that gently lulls baby Jesus to sleep at last.

This picture book is quite similar to Goodnight Ark, which I did a review on.  As with the Ark, this book is geared towards children 4-8 in my opinion. Parents can read it to their younger children as a lovely Christmas rhyming story, while older children can use it to learn to read marvelous rhyme.  And while I enjoyed the book, I did find a couple of the rhymes a bit discordant with the rhythm, as I would have to turn the page to finish the rhyme and it caused too much of a pause. I felt a little jarred and harder to read than Ark.  Along with that, while the pictures of the animals, Joseph, the shepherds, and wise men were right on par with Jane Chapman’s other work, I was severely disappointed with her portrayal of Mary.  All my life I have pictured Mary as being this beautiful woman. I figure if God chose her to carry Jesus and have him as her son, she has to be beautiful.  And I think there are absolutely stunning Israeli women. Beautiful women.  So to have Mary look very plain and worn out was disappointing. Yes, I know she just had a baby, but well, it doesn’t matter about that aspect when illustrating a book. I would have preferred her to look prettier.  That is just my opinion.

All that being said, this is a lovely rhyme book again.  I think it would be a marvelous story to read young children during the month of December to prepare for Christmas. It’s sweet and charming enough that I could see children learning the whole rhyme to recite.  I would definitely give it 4 out of 5 stars. A little less than Goodnight Ark due to the illustrations and the jarring rhyme. But all in all a very good book

This book was provided to me free of charge for my honest opinion by HarperCollins Christian Publishing. I have in no way been compensated for my opinions.

Kate

Ladies in Literature – Day No. 12

I have another post planned for fierce, kick-butt women in fiction later in the month, but this is about women in general that I like in books. It’s kind of varied, and kind of just a personal opinion piece, but I wanted to share. I was going to write about women artists, but since I was seriously blanking on female artists, that topic has been scrapped. So, onward.

Emilie Loring Books (some of my favorites)

In books I have a fairly large selection of women I love. It probably doesn’t hurt that I love reading so um, well books are going to be my area of love.  Someday someone is going to call my on my Emilie Loring addiction…. Oh wait, the ladies at the library have already done that.  Neva’ mind.  I absolutely love almost every gal in the Emilie Loring books. They are girls  with moxie and love, and kindness, and sometimes they are weak, and stupid, but I feel I can relate to them. (yes, even the stupid parts because sometimes I can be kind of stupid.) They are like the ultimate good girl, girly girl, best friend girl. I would love to know these girls!  And just like them, I love the four women of Norah Robert’s Bride Quartet. I love these gals. They own businesses, they are fierce, but they are also such girls. Sexy and sweet, they make my day.

The Bride Quartet by Norah Roberts

I like girls that have cool jobs, but not the typical doctor, lawyer, cop, etc jobs. I like jobs that a middle class girl would do.  That’s partly why I love the girls from the Bride quartet. One is a photographer, another a baker, the third a florist, and lastly the manager of a this whole bridal planning company.  They are jobs I would do. I love the complexity of the positions. They are not just fluff pieces.  Those are the kinds of girls I love. They are normal. They are not fierce strong women in the sense of say Katniss or Triss from Hunger Games and Divergent, respectively.

I love Anne Elliot from Persuasion. I pick her specifically because while I love Elizabeth Bennett, I actually prefer the Lizzy Bennett from the Kiera Knightley P&P better than the book.  But Anne Elliot is this woman who has had her heart broken and has had to remain with her family who doesn’t really appreciate all of who she is. And yet, she still has this amazing outlook on life. She isn’t bitter so much as just older. She has grown and knows her heart better than when she was young and could have married Captain Wentworth. The fact that she still cares for him after all the years of separation is kind of just romantic. I actually know to some degree what it’s like to long for someone for years.  I actually had the option of possibly being with this person years ago, but turned him down because at the time it was more than I could comprehend. I was too young and didn’t know myself as much as I do now.  For anyone curious, he’s in my Cast of Cooks. I’m betting you can figure out who it is. So I get Anne. She’s steadfast and far from Emma’s flightyness. (I like Emma but she is so flighty)

Honestly, off the top of my head, these are all my top favorites. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but there are about 20 Emilie Loring books I love, and the four Norah Roberts books, then the Jane Austen books. That adds up to being quite a few books. So I shall end for now.

Notable mentions are the gals in these books:

Sunday’s at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (all the women are so unique in this book)

So tell me, who are some literary women you admire or think they are just fun to read about? I’d love to know. I’m always on the lookout for gals to read about. I’d love any suggestions.

Kate