The Huron Carol
by Ian Wallace
- Long-listed, CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award
- Commended, Bank Street College Children's Library Best Children's Books of the Year
- Commended, CCBC Our Choice
The Huron Carol is a beautiful and unusual Christmas song with a rich history.In the early 1600s, Father Jean de Brebeuf came to Canada from his native France as a Jesuit missionary. He settled among the Huron, or Ouendat, people near what is now Midland, Ontario. Despite his missionary zeal, Brebeuf was sensitive to the people with whom he lived. He learned their language and he wrote, in Huron, the original version of this famous Christmas carol.Brebeuf's carol continued to be sung by successive generations of Hurons. Then in 1926, Toronto writer Jesse Edgar Middleton, inspired by Brebeuf, wrote his own version of the carol in English. His are the familiar words we sing today, describing the Huron landscape, flora and fauna in telling the Christmas story.
close this panelIan Wallace is one of Canada's best-known children's book author/illustrators. He has won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award, the Mr. Christie's Book Award, the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award, and he has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
close this panelIn the well-composed watercolour paintings, the many night scenes gradually give way to a radiant day. A beautiful, moving interpretation.
ÖIan Wallace, drawing on our imaginings of how that special night might have looked, puts it all down so well on paper.
...interesting and appealing...
...the earth-toned watercolor illustrations are pleasant, depicting Canadian wildlife, spiritual scenes, and the Huron people...
Illustrations in this version evoke the richness of the native landscape.
The elegant watercolor landscapes...blend the Huron culture and the Christmas carol perfectly.
...a worthy addition to Canadian Christmas book collections.
