Angela and the Baby Jesus: (Children's Edition)
by Frank McCourt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank McCourtIllustrator: Raul Colon
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-11-06
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Book Reviews of Angela and the Baby Jesus: (Children's Edition)
Book Review: "On the 12th Day of Christmas.....This Little Child Showed Her Love For Baby Jesus!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Frank McCourt has taken a simple childhood memory and placed it into a story for young children, this Christmas. More than that, he has recalled an event that happened to his Mother when she was the little girl in this story. The illustrator, Raul Colon, uses watercolor of different shades, and uses a tool to strike some detail in the picture.
Six year old Angela would stop in church to visit the Christmas crib ; she noticed how cold it was in the church and felt sorry for the Baby Jesus. She wondered why no one thought to cover him with a blanket. Now, we know that the Jesus in the crib is a statue, and he probably wouldn't feel the cold, but Little Angela, having been cold,herself, knew how uncomfortable that could be. She wanted to do something for the Baby Jesus,and she did.
At first, she hid in the church confessional so that no one would notice her. She watched the old people praying for long periods; she thought that they should go home and have a cup of tea to warm themselves up. One day, she waited till everyone left, and though she knew that stealing was a bad thing, she decided to take care of the Baby Jesus. To her, the statue of Baby Jesus was real.
She looked at him smiling, with his arms out stretched, and she lifted him out and placed him under her coat, hoping to make him warm, as she ran all the way home. So that her Mom wouldn't notice, she decided to toss the Baby Jesus over the fence into her backyard, but the statue just didn't land where she wanted it to. She even spoke to the statue, "Will you help me, little Baby? Will you help me?" And then, the third time she tossed him over the fence, he landed in the yard of a blind woman, next door. Again,she talked to the statue, "Baby Jesus, I have a good mind to leave you there in Mrs. Blake's backyard.....You're not supposed to be flying around like an angel."
One last time, she picked him up and threw him into her own backyard, talking to him the whole time. When her brother came out the back door, she knew that no matter what he said, no one would believe him. Her brother, Pat told her that the Baby Jesus was to be sleeping in his crib in the church. All Angela could think of was keeping Baby Jesus warm.
When her brother told their Mom what she had done, her Mom thought she would just humor him, so they all went upstairs, and there, in her bed, was Baby Jesus, smiling, with his arms outstretched. Her Mom decided that they had to return the statue to the church. They all walked down to the church with their Mom, and were met at the church door by the priest and a policeman. The two men kind of teased her to put a little scare into her. It was when her brother Pat offered to take her place in jail, that the priest and the policeman softened their decision. The priest took the Baby Jesus out of Angela's arms and placed it in the crib, reassuring her that while we're away from the crib, Jesus' Mother makes sure that He is nice and warm.
I recall a Christmas when each of the children was given a small plastic Jesus resting in a half walnut shell,so they could keep Him warm....That happened three years ago. Little children are and will always be fascinated by Baby Jesus. Think of a time when you recall the first Baby Jesus in the crib that was in your childhood, and hold on to the memory.
Summary of Angela and the Baby Jesus: (Children's Edition)
An evocative Christmas story, from the Pulitzer prize-winning author of the phenomenally best-selling memoir, Angela's Ashes. This wonderful Christmas story is based on an incident from the childhood of Frank McCourt's mother, Angela. When six-year-old Angela sees the Baby Jesus in the Christmas crib at the church near her house, she feels very sorry for him. He looks happy enough but she wonders why he has no blanket to keep him warm. So Angela decides to take the Baby home with her, when no one is looking, and make him more comfortable. But hiding the Baby Jesus isn't easy. How long can Angela keep her big secret?"When my mother, Angela, was six years old, she felt sorry for the Baby Jesus in the Christmas crib...."
Frank McCourt's first Christmas book is by turns tender and heartwarming, and wholly unforgettable. Angela is six years old and worries for the Baby Jesus on the altar of St. Joseph's Church near School House Lane in Limerick, Ireland, where she lives. December nights are damp and cold, and the church is dark. The Baby Jesus' mother doesn't even have a blanket to cover him. The Baby is sure to need Angela's help, even if she is not allowed to step near the altar, especially by herself.
Filled with the character and incident that have made Pulitzer Prize recipient Frank McCourt internationally renowned and beloved, Angela and the Baby Jesus is a timeless story of family--and all of its joy, tradition, love, and incongruity--and a book for the generations to cherish.
Amazon.com Exclusive
Angela and the Baby Jesus, the first Christmas book from beloved author Frank McCourt, is an unprecedented event, with a children's edition published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and an adult edition published by Scribner. Set in Ireland, the story is about the childhood of Angela, of Angela's Ashes. Each edition has the same story written by McCourt but is illustrated by a different artist. Raul Colon illustrated the children's edition and Loren Long illustrated the adult edition. Amazon asked both artists to write about their experiences illustrating the same scene from McCourt's story to get an inside look at how they interpreted McCourt's words.
Raul Colon on the Fireside Scene from Angela and the Baby Jesus:
This image for Frank McCourt's Angela and the Baby Jesus picture book came to me just by thinking of a warm fireplace on a cold night. In this particular scene the family sits around the fire to chat after tea. Angela's little brother is giving up the secret that the "Baby Jesus" is in the bed upstairs. Angela shows a bit of worry in her face, since she quietly snuck the "baby" into the house. Surely she'll be in trouble now.
Throughout the story I hardly show any of the adult faces, focusing mainly on the children's world. Hence, Mother's back is turned toward us. I also cut off the little brother's face by having Mother's turn-of-the-century hairdo get in the way (A little thing I learned from the great artist Degas.) It gives the scene intimacy, as if the viewer is there taking a snapshot with his camera. All in all a fun and rewarding book to illustrate. It was an honor to turn McCourt's words into actual pictures. --Raul Colon
Loren Long on the Fireside Scene from Angela and the Baby Jesus:
Usually little Angela would want to be right in the middle of the action as the family sits by the fire and talks. But not this time--she has a secret upstairs.
At this point in the story, I'm giving the reader a seat behind the family in the shadows away from the fire. At the same time we, the readers, know about Angela's secret in the bedroom upstairs and we see her hanging back from the others, sneaking peeks up the staircase. We can see that she has something more important on her mind than her family's chattering.
In my visual interpretation of Angela and the Baby Jesus, I wanted to tap into Frank McCourt's sophisticated blend of gritty realism and subtle humor. For this reason, I specifically chose a limited color palette. I worked with acrylics on canvas and tried to keep the paintings a bit edgy and raw.
Choosing images came naturally when working on this story. I was taken with the balance of reverence, innocence, and humor in Frank?s text and I simply tried to come up with creative ways to portray these elements in a subtle but hopefully profound way. --Loren Long