A Child's Christmas in Wales - Hardcover

Dylan Thomas is lauded as one of the greatest of the twentieth-century poets. Born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914, he became a journalist at seventeen and published his controversial EIGHTEEN POEMS in 1934, which made him an overnight success. Dylan Thomas was markedly influential in his short life and produced work that remains wildly popular today, including the bitter and poignant "Do not go gentle into that good night" and the strikingly dramatic Under Milk Wood. Dylan Thomas died in 1953. A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES remains one of his best known works, and many families count a rousing reading of the poem among their favorite holiday traditions.

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of many picture books, including the concrete poetry anthology A POKE IN THE I, edited by Paul B. Janeczko, which was named a NEW YORK TIMES Best Illustrated Children's Book. He is also the author-illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book YO! YES?, and has been hailed by PUBLISHERS WEEKLY as
"one of the most original illustrators at work today."

Grade 3 Up–Raschka's illustrations will surely enhance children's enjoyment of this nostalgic, bittersweet memoir. Executed in ink, torn paper, and gouache on sensuously textured paper, they are full of tiny details that beg for closer inspection. Some libraries may still have copies illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg (New Directions, 1997), Edward Ardizzone (Godine, 1980), or Trina Schart Hyman (Holiday, 1985). Of these earlier editions, Hyman's probably succeeds best at capturing the story's time and place. Raschka, however, finds the universal elements that a contemporary child can relate to–the eccentric aunts, the joy of pretending to smoke candy cigarettes, the classification of gifts into "Useful Presents" and "Useless Presents." This is a handsome book that most libraries will want.–V. W.
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