Wilner’s pleasant and lively rhyme is illuminated by Kleven’s lovely bright collage illustrations.

Shanghai born college librarian Wilner composed this poem for a second-grade teacher’s Christmas program. Illustrator Kleven, a former teacher, has also written and illustrated her own books under the name Elisa Schneider. ( )

This is one of my favorite children's Christmas books, which I bought the year my daughter was born. It tells the story of the Nativity in rhyming couplets, one for each letter of the alphabet ("A's for Augustus, emperor of Rome,/Who decreed, "To be counted, let each man go home. B is for Bethlehem, where Joseph must go./There he takes Mary, a long way and slow.") The illustrations are gorgeous, colorful, folk-style pictures full of joy and reverence. ( )