****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
"The Twelve Days of Christmas," illustrated by Laurel Long, is an absolute gem to be treasured by your family for years to come. I have been an elementary teacher and have collected children's picture books, especially children's Christmas picture books, and I can truthfully say this is one of the most beautifully illustrated children's Christmas books I have ever seen. The book measures 9 3/8 inches by 11 3/4 inches and has 30 pages. Every page is a full page full color adventure in color and an unimaginable display of details. You can stare at a page for many minutes and get lost in the imaginations of your mind. Both children and adults will see something new each time they stare at the beautiful oil painting illustrations. Each colored page also has illuminated edges. There are two magnificently colored pages for each of the numbered days of Christmas -- one page has the words to the verse from the song discreetly placed so as not to interfere with the integrity of the beautiful illustration and the other page contains just an illustration.. The dust jacket is a real splendor of color illustrating the partridge in a pear tree surrounded by traditional Christmas decorated illumination. The pictorial cover of the book contains the same illustration.The next to last two pages contain the song, including the words and the music. The very last page contains a brief history of the song and delves into the various interpretations to the origin and the meaning of the song. There is an added surprise for the reader. Because this is a cumulative song, the reader is challenged to find all the previously mentioned gifts in each of the illustrations. Of course as you advance to the larger numbered days of Christmas, there is more to find in each picture. This can be a fun challenge. To help the reader find these objects there is a small tab at the bottom of the front dust jacket flap that reads, "Look on the underside of the jacket for a key to the hidden gifts." If you remove the dust jacket and look on the underside you will will see a small black and white reproduction of each page from the book. On these small page reproductions you will find red numbers corresponding to the various Christmas Day gifts showing you where they are found in each of the pictures in the book.I originally bought this book to donate to my elementary school library but when I saw it, I just knew I had to have one for myself and several for gifts. I don't know where I have been, but this is my first exposure to the work of Laurel Long. I sure would love to purchase one of her paintings. You owe it to yourself just to see these marvelous illustrations once in your lifetime!
