One Winter's Night - Softcover

Herman, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142404586 ISBN 13: 9780142404584

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2005

Synopsis

Martha, a lonely cow about to give birth on a cold winter's night, finds shelter in a deserted shed with a man and a woman who are also having a baby. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author:

John Herman has written the books Labyrinth, One Winter’s Night, and Red, White, and Blue: The Story of the American Flag.

Diane Dillon was born in Los Angeles in 1933. She met her future husband, Leo, when they were both studying at the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1953. They married in 1957 and became an iconic artistic duo. The Dillons are the only illustrators to win the Caldecott Medal two years in a row, which they did in 1976 and 1977. They produced more than 100 speculative book and magazine covers together.

Leo Dillon was born to Trinidadian parents in New York in 1933. He met his future wife, Diane, when they were both studying at the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1953. They married in 1957 and became an iconic artistic duo. Leo and Diane collaborated on covers and woodcuts for a number of Harlan Ellison books; in 1981, Ellison edited a biography of them entitled The Art of Leo & Diane Dillon. Leo and Diane are the only illustrators to win the Caldecott Medal two years in a row, which they did in 1976 and 1977. They produced more than 100 speculative book and magazine covers together. Leo Dillon passed away in 2012.

From Booklist:

K-Gr. 2. This artistic, bifurcated representation of the nativity night relates how Martha, a lost, pregnant cow, follows a single star in the sky until she finds a shed where "the starlight gleamed down like silver." Inside is a bearded man kneeling beside a radiant woman. Illustrations on the right-hand pages, in elegant style and colored in beautiful blues with bright highlights, depict Martha's search for shelter; opposite, across the top of the page and colored in sepia tones, are woodcuts showing Joseph and Mary's travels. The parallel journeys intersect in the shed, where both Mary and Martha give birth, "two glorious babies on one winter's night." The simple, lyrical text makes no biblical references other than the man calling the woman Mary. The use of contrasting art styles is interesting although it sometimes interrupts the narrative flow. Still, there is both tenderness and poignancy in this original and unusual presentation. Julie Cummins
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About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0142404586
• ISBN 13: 9780142404584
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Dillon Diane, Dillon Leo