Review of 'Goodnight Manger' by Laura Sassi

This book is the type of book I would be drawn to in a bookstore/library and read as the cover definitely draws me in with the bright and beautiful illustrations throughout.  Being a hard cover with a dust jacket always adds that extra stand out also in my opinion.  However pick up and read and put back would probably be as far as I would go with this book as I don't like the overpowering theme of it.

I must say though that the rhymes in the book are fantastic.  So many times you pick up a rhyming book and expect to find the rhymes that are a bit of a stretch and put the rhythm out a bit - this book is not one of them, the rhyming patterns are really excellent and flow so well.  I was very impressed by this factor along with the illustrations.

While this book is beautifully illustrated and the rhymes are just delightful, I felt the message wasn't right and left me feeling flat about the book despite the positives.  In particular I didn't like how it portrayed the whole scenario as a chaotic scene - firstly that isn't Biblical and secondly it robs the awe of the moment by putting a modern day edge on something not at all modern day.  Sometimes doing that works for something different but it didn't in this particular story as it cheapened it.  In particular I didn't like when the angels were singing "Hosanna" and the mama tells them to be quiet!? Wow... now that's really stretching it. If anything the angels singing at that moment would be far from being classified as 'noise' that would wake the baby. It's almost offensive to insinuate that.  If anything the angels singing would have soothed the baby.  There wouldn't have been any 'frantic' or 'mama's...in a tizzy' back in those times as those are again, modern day things as a result of the life we live now.

This book really doesn't sit well for me at all and therefore I wouldn't recommend it.

Please note that Booklook sent me a copy of this for my review - the opinions expressed are entirely my own.


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