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)
