King of Kings - Hardcover

Hill, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1564022102 ISBN 13: 9781564022103

Publisher: Candlewick, 1993

Synopsis

Living alone and lonely since the death of his wife, elderly Mr. Hegarty spends his Christmases quietly, until one extraordinary Christmas Eve a faint mewling like a lost kitten and a special discovery bring new warmth to his life.

About this title

From Booklist

Ages 6-9. Although there is a definite adult and British feel to this picture book, there is also a rich sentiment to it that transcends age or country. Mr. Hegarty lives alone near the wharves and warehouses. Although most of the flats in the neighborhood are gone, and his wife is dead, Mr. Hegarty and his dog, Jacko, and Cat the cat still make a life for themselves, even if it's one of sameness: tea, clean the hearth, wash up, sleep. But you can't pretend that Christmas Eve is a night like any other. They spend a quiet night together until the stillness is broken by the sound of a cry. When Mr. Hegarty goes downstairs to check it out, he is amazed to find a baby on the steps. Now Christmas turns into a flurry of activity as he brings the baby to the hospital and answers questions from hospital staff and police. Later, he returns to the hospital, where he visits the baby in a small crib draped and decorated as it is every year for the first baby born on Christmas. "King of Kings," Mr. Hegarty murmurs. Lawrence's watercolors, detailed with pen, portray the sweep and grit of the London dockside, yet also tenderly reveal, through expression and posture, the loneliness that people can feel when they are by themselves. A most interesting holiday selection. Ilene Cooper

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of The Glass Angels (1992) offers a briefer Christmas story: an appealing vignette set near the docks of contemporary London, where a few residents cling to old homes among warehouses and building sites. There, Mr. Hegarty--widower, retired watchman--is weathering a solitary Christmas Eve when he's awakened by a cry. Someone has left a new baby outside the church, and though the old man has never in his life held a tiny child, he carries it to the nearby King's Hospital. It's 3 a.m by the time he's answered questions and been plied with tea; next morning, returning for news, he's welcomed once again--and learns that the baby is being honored as the first to be born this Christmas Day. The story is gentle, understated, and imbued with the kind of detail that endears Rumer Godden to her readers; Lawrence's expertly limned illustrations are precisely observed, freely rendered, and suffused with a gray, wintry light, warmed by firelight and the colors of woolly blankets. An inviting book for a holiday evening. (Fiction/Picture book. 5+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1564022102
• ISBN 13: 9781564022103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Lawrence John