Jody Wheeler

The traditional English Christmas carol, The First Noel - sometimes also known as The First Nowell - is paired with beautiful watercolor artwork from Jody Wheeler in this lovely holiday picture-book. Each two-page spread features one verse of the song on the right-hand page, and a full-page illustration on the left. A brief forward gives some history of the carol, while the full text, with musical notation, is given at the rear...

After feeling decidedly lukewarm about Janina Domanska's show more picture-book presentation of this carol - I didn't care for her artwork, and was disappointed that she used the five-verse version of the song, rather than the full six-verse one - I picked up this version done by Jody Wheeler with interest. I was pleased to see that although the refrain wasn't used in the text of the book (I tend to sing Christmas carol picture-books to myself, as I read them, so I simplied supplied the refrain), the full six-verse version is used here. I was also pleased with the artwork, which, although not what I would describe as extraordinary, I found more appealing than that done by the better-known Domanska. They're done in very different styles, so perhaps the comparison is unfair, but there you have it. Of the two, this is definitely the one I would recommend, to those readers seeking picture-book presentations of The First Noel. show less