Roz Abisch (–2014)

Author Roz Abisch and illustrator Boche Kaplan explore the story of The Huron Carol ("Jesous Ahatonhia" / "Jesus, he is born") in this seasonal picture-book, giving a history of the carol's creation by French missionary priest Father Jean de Brébeuf in the 1640s, as a means of explaining the Nativity Story in indigenous language and setting. The English text of the carol itself is included, and the musical notation for this "first American Christmas carol" is given at the rear...

'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime: The First American Christmas Carol was published in 1969, and appears to be the first picture-book treatment of The Huron Carol, although it is the fourth I have read, after David Bouchard's An Aboriginal Carol, Ian Wallace's The Huron Carol and Frances Tyrrell's The Huron Carol. Although I found it interesting, on the whole I prefer some of these other presentations, particularly the Tyrrell, which is simply beautiful, and the Bouchard, which presents the carol in both English and Inuktitut, together with a recording of Susan Aglukark singing the Inuktitut version. Boche Kaplan's illustrations here have an interesting folk style to them, but somehow didn't quite satisfy. Tastes vary, of course, so readers who appreciate picture-books featuring Christmas carols (an annual pet project of mine) might still find it appealing. It is to them that I would recommend it.… (mehr)