The Shortest Day

This book is a very fine poem with splendid illustrations, for all ages.

Such a beautiful book, I love the images and the words so much and so does my kid! A beautiful book to honor the winter solstice and our heritage

Great poem turned into a book for littles! The art is beautiful

A wonderful poem and beautiful illustrations about the winter solstice. Highly recommend.

The illustrations were a wonderful accompaniment to the text.

I bought this book because works for pagan children are few. The images and the words are lovely. There is a muted tone of color that is just right for the low sun on the horizon. Instead of being simply about the Solstice, the book ties the celebration to multiple other religious practices. That was personally disappointing to me as pagan practice precedes the others. I had hoped this book would be about the Solstice and it’s observance as a practice in its own right without the layering on of other faiths’ rites. As a result, I would not give this to a pagan child. It is a visually arresting book but the theme is more universalist than I had understood. That will not diminish its enjoyment for most people.

I heard the author reading her book on NPR and decided to buy it. In just a few words that the very youngest of us can understand and the very oldest deeply appreciate, It celebrates the darkest time of the year in a way that contextualizes some of our current winter holiday traditions and connects us with past centuries. The illustrations are sweeping landscapes depicting seasonal changes, grand and simple at the same time. Next year I will buy this book for every member of my immediate family. It feels like a necessity, along with crackling fires and candle lit trees. For those who revere the seasonal turnings on the wheel of the year, it provides a template for teachings related to the play of light and dark in our lives. I am 80 years old.

As an adult I enjoyed reading this to my 1 year old niece. I think she was waaaay too young to appreciate the words or the graphics. I'll try again in a few years.

Beautiful book, thoroughly enjoyed reading it with my children on the winter solstice.

Hermosas ilustraciones y casi no hay libros de este tipo para niños. Nos encantó a toda la familia, ya que celebramos el equinoccio de invierno y la navidad de una manera diferente

I bought the book to read and teach my kids about pagan traditions. This book is a poem. Not understood by kids (2, 4, 6, 7, 10 years old) there is a page at the end with a few paragraphs describing solstices and equinox’s but even this requires a lot of explaining and the kids still don’t really grasp what the book is about.

So timely, so beautifully written and ILLUSTRATED

LIGHT AND DARK IN HUMAN LIFE IN THE WORLD TEXT AMD IMAGES MERGE