The story opens with a familiar Biblical image-of Mary being visited by the angel Gabriel. In Brian Wildsmith's imagining of this scene, Mary is shown with her cherished cat and dog. When Mary and Joseph set out for Bethlehem, her pets are left behind. But the cat and dog miss their mistress and decide to make the journey to find her. Along the way, they stop to help various other animals who join them on the road to Bethlehem. Arriving at the stable, the animals share in the joy of the birth of Jesus. Mary is delighted to be reunited with her pets and be able to present her new baby to them. This appealing story from one of our most internationally acclaimed picture-book writers and artists has deservedly become an enduring favourite with children at Christmas time.

 

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2010 by Oxford University Press .

Brian Lawrence Wildsmith was a British painter and children's book illustrator. He won the 1962 Kate Greenaway Medal for British children's book illustration, for the wordless alphabet book ABC. In all his books, the illustrations are always as important as the text. Wildsmith is considered as one of the greatest children's illustrators. The British Library Association recognised his first book, the wordless alphabet book ABC (1962), with the Kate Greenaway Medal for the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. Four of his works were subsequently commended runners-up for the Medal, all published by Oxford University Press: Oxford Book of Poetry for Children, edited by Edward Blishen, 1963; The Lion and the Rat: A Fable, by Jean de La Fontaine (1668), adapted from Aesop, also 1963; Birds, 1967; and The Owl and the Woodpecker, 1971. The biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award conferred by the International Board on Books for Young People is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Wildsmith was one of two runners-up for the inaugural illustration award in 1966 and one of three runners-up in 1968. Find out more here https://www. brianwildsmith. com/.