When the widow McDowell and her son Thomas knock at the woodcarver, Jonathan Toomey's door one winter's day, they receive a frosty reception. Jonathan has been hard and cold since the death of his wife and daughter, but as Thomas watches him work, a miracle occurs to warm his sad, chill heart.

 

This book was recognised by the Kate Greenaway Medal Award. The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by childrens librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. It was recognised in the Eilis Dillon Memorial Award category by the Bisto Book Award.

There are 40 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 1997 by Walker Books Ltd .

P. J. LYNCH was born in Belfast in 1962, the youngest of five children. He studied illustration at Brighton College of Art (where one of his tutors was Raymond Briggs). He has won numerous prizes, including the Mother Goose Award and the Kate Greenaway Award. He now lives in Dublin. Susan Wojciechowski says the idea for THE BEST HALLOWEEN OF ALL came after she acted as a judge for a Halloween costume party. "One little girl had a very elaborate costume," she remembers. "But it didn't win, and her mother wasn't pleased. I realized later that like that mother I was always constructing 'creative' costumes for my two boys without consulting them. From then on, I left it to them. "