Christmas Truce by Aaron Shepard and Wendy Edelson was a retelling of the story of the Christmas truce in 1914 in which Allied and German troops ceased fighting on Christmas Eve and began singing Christmas carols. During this unique time in the middle of the war, Christians joined in song and games. They shared stories of their lives and swapped details about loved ones back home.
Christmas Truce was a nice retelling in the format of a letter from a soldier in the trenches to his family back home. The illustrations were beautiful illustrations setting the tone of the story as well. I’ve always loved this story, and I appreciated that at end of the story the author included some more facts about the Christmas truce, including what was real and what was fiction.
However, the format of the book was disappointing. Big blocks of text in a boring font were on one side of the page, and the illustrations were centered on the opposite pages, framed with white. This format made the book look a bit awkward; it didn’t look like a delightful picture book and it did not do justice to the unique story and illustrations contained therein.
Note: I received digital copies of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
I had a delightful holiday season this year, in which I did not (obviously) worry about keeping up with my reviewing blog. Strawberry, aged 3, and Raisin, who recently turned 8, enjoyed a book advent calendar in which we unwrapped a different favorite picture book each day in December leading up to Christmas. This made each day a delightful reading day for us. Even though the picture books were favorites we’ve read many times over the past years, they made the season extra fun. Little Kitty Cat (two months old at Christmas) loved being passed around to all the family, and Strawberry and Raisin loved playing with their cousins.
