The Friendly Animals

This appealing Christmas book features the verses of a folk song, written in medieval France, in which the animals in and around the stable in Bethlehem take turns telling their parts of the nativity story. Each beast (as they are traditionally referred to in the English translation of the carol) speaks in a four-line rhymed verse. The use of animal in this book requires the reader or singer to squeeze in two extra syllables, but the word is more familiar to young children than beast, which carries a somewhat different connotation today. The poem works well as a picture-book text, and reading it aloud makes it easy for the reader to pause and interact with children. On the other hand, hearing a picture book sung can be riveting for preschoolers. While the music isn’t included in the book, it’s readily available online. Gray’s illustrations make good use of rounded shapes, rich colors, light, shadows, and textures to create cozy scenes with a sense of depth. A beautiful picture book to share with young children at Christmas.