On Angel Wings

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake's classic Christmas story, now in a brand-new larger gift format - the perfect Christmas gift!

A singing of wings, a glorious light, and a sudden beacon of brightness. It can only mean - can it really? - a visit from the Angel Gabriel himself ...

One cold Christmas night, a shepherd recounts the magical story of how he came to be the first visitor to the newborn Christ child - ahead of the other shepherds, and in complete secret.

This magical reworking of the nativity by the bestselling author of War Horse Michael Morpurgo is beautifully illustrated by Quentin Blake. A wonderful Christmas gift to treasure and share.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

The truth is that once we weren't children anymore, we never did believe Grandpa's story, not really-as much as we might have wanted to.... We still loved listening to it, though. Christmas nights would never have been the same without it." Voiced by an indulgent but typically skeptical youth, these opening lines frame a captivating retelling of the Nativity as experienced by the youngest shepherd, whose father and uncles have left him behind to look after the flock as they follow the star to Bethlehem. When the angel Gabriel overhears the boy's lamenting the unfairness of it all, he drops in to make things "a little fairer" and whisk the boy to the manger and back, "lickety-split." Morpurgo's tone blends reverence with wit, a combination matched in Blake's pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons of heavenly choruses, zooming angels and the boy shepherd holding an infant Jesus (he "hopes against hope that [the baby] wouldn't cry"). The six-inch-square trim size spells gift book; would-be givers should note the religious nature of the ending. All ages. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-5-Grandpa's tale is a fondly remembered Christmas tradition, though as his grandchildren grow up it seems "too fantastical" to be true. The story he tells is of his boyhood recollection of being with the adult shepherds when the angel Gabriel appeared and told them of the Baby Jesus's birth and directing them to follow the star in the East. The adults follow and leave the boy behind to mind the sheep. Gabriel then reappears and offers to fly him to the stable to see the baby for himself, while a band of angels watches the flock. The mysterious love of the baby, the angels' voices, and the secret gift of a shepherd's crook to the baby who will one day carry it as he shepherds a human flock are all conveyed through a simple, though sometimes jarringly modern tone. Gabriel says: "I could fly you to the stable. We could be there and back, lickety-split, and no one would ever know you'd been gone-.Easy as pie." Blake's sketchy watercolors illuminate the spare story and hint at the wonder of angelic visitors. A read-aloud title for sharing at home, this probably isn't destined to become a widespread holiday classic.-Anne Connor, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

This small book takes the Nativity story to heavenly heights. The narrator, a young shepherd, says that after childhood we never did believe Grandpa's story, but what a story it is. As Grandpa tells it, one night when he was about nine, sparks in the campfire fly up and form an angel. The shepherds are terrified. The angel, Gabriel, is nonchalant. I'm sorry to drop in on you unexpectedly, he says, but he has news: Christ the Lord is born. He invites the shepherds to follow a star and meet the babe. The older shepherds go, but the youngest must stay. Grandpa-as-a-boy is despondent until once again Gabriel appears and, in a delightful two-page spread, flies him to Bethlehem, where he meets the holy family. The story, more detailed than most Nativity tales about the good news, is matched by pictures that, although not plentiful, strike the right note between reverence and exuberance. Despite the book's compact size, the text is long, and Blake's signature swirling artwork makes this best suited to children older than the story-hour set.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2007 Booklist

Horn Book Review

(Primary, Intermediate) Morpurgo's exhilarating version of the Nativity story features the traditional elements of angels bringing tidings of great joy and shepherds watching over their flock by night -- but also takes several startling departures from the norm. The angel Gabriel, for instance, is here both messenger and flying transport: when the book's main character, a young shepherd boy, is devastated because he's been left behind to watch the sheep while the others head for Bethlehem, Gabriel tells him to ""hop on...we could be there and back, lickety-split, and no one would ever know you'd been gone."" The colloquial tone doesn't feel irreverent; in fact, the familiarity of the characters' interactions makes the boy's adoration of the baby Jesus even more powerful. The small trim size emphasizes the intimate nature of Morpurgo's story; still, Blake's watercolors can rise to glorious heights, especially when depicting the heavenly host. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

Blake and Morpurgo, both former holders of the British children's laureate honor, join their considerable talents in this touching Christmas story aimed at both older children and adults. In first-person narrative, a grandfather recalls for his grandchildren his amazing adventure long ago when he was a shepherd boy on the night Christ was born. On that night, the boy was sad to be left behind when his father and brothers went off to visit the baby born in Bethlehem. The angel Gabriel appears to the boy and flies him to the stable as the baby's first visitor, where he leaves his shepherd's crook as a gift for the baby. The grandson hearing the story has been doubtful about its veracity all his life, but on this Christmas Eve, he too sees the angels singing as his grandfather did. Morpurgo's story is lyrically written with a bracketing introduction and conclusion by the grandson. His graceful prose makes the unlikely story seem quite concrete and possible. Blake's distinctive illustrations in watercolor and ink amplify the text with small spot illustrations on most pages and larger illustrations in glowing gold and red of the angel Gabriel. (Fiction. 7-adult) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.