All Things Bright and Beautiful - Hardcover

Alexander, Cecil Frances

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0735818924 ISBN 13: 9780735818927

Publisher: North-South / Night Sky Books, 2004

Synopsis

Written in 1848, this beloved hymn celebrating the wonders of Creation is given new life in Anna Vojtech's glowing interpretation. Lushly detailed paintings follow two children and their frisky pup through a bucolic landscape of meadows, hills, rivers, streams, and woods. Throughout the seasons, the youngsters explore and enjoy the wealth of treasures to be found -- things bright and beautiful, great and small, wise and wonderful, the glory of it all.

About this title

About the Author

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) was born in Ireland. She began writing verse at an early age. She was influenced by Dr. Hook, Dean of Chichester, and subsequently by John Keble, who edited her Songs for Little Children, in which "All Things Bright and Beautiful" first appeared. She published numerous religious tracts and hymns as well as several volumes of poetry for adults and children. Anna Vojtech was born in Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic. She has worked as an editor, an illustrator, a film animator, and a set designer. She lives with her family in Magnolia, Massachusetts.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 3–While there are other lovely illustrated versions of this 19th-century song, Vojtech's glorious edition is a worthy choice. The familiar words are brought to life in spreads that include two pictures, one framed inside the other. The outer picture is less a border than an enhancement of the inner image. For example, the first pages show a girl and a boy looking out over a field filled with a variety of animals, and close-ups of the creatures are scattered around the outer frame. For "All things wise and wonderful,/the Lord God made them all," the larger painting shows a family of swans swimming in a pond where frogs gamble and large dragonflies flit about. The outer image flows beyond the water to the woods and sky nearby. Viewers' eyes are drawn back and forth between the two scenes, following a turtle's path across a branch and the dragonfly's tail bursting out of the frame. The watercolors are fresh and richly drawn with fine details such as the veins on a lady slipper and the whiskers of a mouse. The book concludes with stargazing children and fireflies sparkling in the night sky. A wonderful addition that readers will return to again and again.–Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT
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Edition details

• Publisher: North-South / Night Sky Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0735818924
• ISBN 13: 9780735818927
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Vojtech Anna
• Number of pages: 24