Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Timed to coincide with Armistice Day, this solemn graphic narrative recalls Christmas 1914, when British and German soldiers called a fleeting truce. American children's poet laureate Lewis, who worked with Kelley on Black Cat Bone, composes grim first-person prose. Leaving it to readers to decode the WWI colloquialisms, Lewis writes from the viewpoint of a fictive Welsh infantryman, Owen Davies: "In December, lying doggo each morning in my serpentine cellar, I wrote in [my] gilded daybook.... The frozen ground above became a bone orchard for soldiers running on raids-and falling like ninepins quick with lead." On Christmas Eve, Owen hears a "baritone singing Stille Nacht-Silent Night"; an accomplished tenor himself, he responds with "The First Noel." Tentatively, the rival sides approach each other for an unprecedented and brief Christmas celebration. Kelley conjures the muddy trenches and frigid European winter in his brooding, earth-tone pastels. His contorted soldiers, surrounded by bare-limbed trees and barbed wire, evoke the disturbing sketches of Egon Schiele. Concluding in tragedy, it memorializes a century-old war and a snuffed-out glimmer of peace. Ages 9-up. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4 Up-In the midst of the bleakness of World War I on the Western Front somewhere in Belgium, a miracle occurred. On Christmas Eve 1914, the Germans and the English were at a stalemate. Each side had gone as far as they could go, and instead of pushing on, they dug a series of extensive trenches that allowed them to hide from the bullets being fired by their enemies. Of course, this meant that no movement could be made and so the two sides fought on across the space between called "no man's land" with very little effect. But on Christmas Eve, the German soldiers proffered a temporary peace, a cease-fire, for both sides to celebrate the holiday. As unlikely as this was, the truce held while they shared songs and food as if they were old friends. On Boxing Day, however, the war returned to these beleaguered men. The narrator is shot having just spent Christmas singing to the enemy. Lewis's prose is sometimes overwrought but the story is strong nonetheless. Kelley's dark palette and angular faces showcase the pain, the ennui, and the futility of war. This is a great addition for middle school libraries, in particular. Pair it with John McCutcheon's less dark Christmas in the Trenches (Peachtree, 2006), which can be used with much younger children.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This picture book for middle-grade readers offers a fictionalized account of the 1914 Christmas Truce of World War I. A Welsh soldier relates how British and German troops facing each other in trenches of the Western Front ceased their fighting on Christmas Day to engage in songs and friendly games. Kelley's dark, somber pastel illustrations add intensity to this moving story. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Christmas in the Trenches, based on the song by John McCutcheon. That version also used a fictional hero/narrator but allowed him to survive to tell the tale to his curious grandchildren. Lewis' unnamed soldier is not so lucky. He describes the horrors of war eloquently and evokes the miracle of peace that reigned briefly for the holiday. The author piles on the poignancy, revealing the young man's vain hope that the war would soon be over in a journal entry discovered after his death by sniper shot. He notes in a brief afterword that the war continued for just under four more years with a total loss of almost 10 million lives. Kelley's compelling artwork features mostly dark shades and strong, angular compositions. The overall design includes panels of various sizes, allowing him to pack in plenty of events and emotions and providing a strong narrative flow. Grim, upsetting and utterly beautiful, this is both a strong anti-war statement and a fascinating glimpse of a little-known historical event. (Picture book. 8 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
