Knight, Hilary. Hilary Knight’s Twelve Days of Christmas. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2001.
On the
surface this book looks like your average kids’ book. Cute
pictures and a storyline you can sing. We all know ”The Twelve Days of
Christmas” - it’s that silly song that involves milking cows, egg
producing hens, and ladies dancing among other things. What makes this
book special is what is going on behind the scenes. There’s a whole
other story unfolding in the illustrations. On the surface Bedelia the
bear is trying to tell you what her true love gave to her during the
twelve days of Christmas (Dec 25- Jan 6) and then there is Benjamin,
for those twelve days straight, bringing her the goods. In the
background there’s Reginald the raccoon. He lives in Bedelia’s basement
for some strange reason, and if you are observant, you learn that he
pines for the perfect girl. Throughout Benjamin’s trips to Bedelia’s
door with various (odd) gifts, you see Reginald struggling with
something of his own.
In the end (and I won’t ruin it for you), you will want to go back and
look at all the illustrations just a little closer. Everything has a
meaning - beyond Benjamin looking to woo Bedelia with twelve
lords a~leaping (my favorite). Seriously. Check out the lords. They’ll crack
you up.
BookLust Twist: From Book Lust and the chapter “Christmas Books for the Whole Family to Read” (p 55).