December Selection - Dylan Thomas' Quite Early One Morning

The December selection will be Quite Early One Morning by Dylan Thomas with special emphasis on A Child's Christmas in Wales. A review follows:

This book is a compilation of Thomas' sessions at the BBC. There are poems in prose and in verse. His style transmits nostalgia for his native Wales. Some of the best parts are his sketches of other Welch poets. A highly recommendable book by one very good poet, the same one who died in New York at the Chelsea hotel, after having more than 40 scotchs with soda. His poetry is rhythmical and clear, very imaginative and precise.

A Child's Christmas in Wales

New Directions Publishing Corporation

Dylan Thomas. Ellen Raskin.

More than a Christmas story.
Scaring sleeping uncles by popping balloons. Getting a hatchet by mistake. Snowballing cats. Dylan Thomas has captured the perfect Christmas. Without any moral, very little plot, and a concern only for the child's perspective, this little piece sticks in my mind better than any other Christmas story I've ever read. Between drunk Auntie Hannah singing in the backyard and the haunted house down the streets where a group of mischievous carollers get the living hell scared out of them, "A Child's Christmas in Wales" is everything Christmas should be: funny, happy, poignant, a little sad, and fattening. Keep a bowl of candy nearby when you read it.. A child's christmas in wales is a more than a christmas story..

Essential
Just finished with the annual tradition of reading this fine work aloud to the whole household, & although Dylan Thomas's perfect (if sometimes tongue-twisting) prose cannot be improved upon, nonetheless, Trina Schart Hyman's illustrations do enhance the story, & make the Welsh poet's vivid reminiscences even vivider. A marvel of beauty, both lyrical (Thomas) and visual (Hyman); a joy to peruse. Make this edition of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" part of your collection, and part of your Yuletide tradition!. A child's christmas in wales is a essential.

The Best Christmas Book EVER.
I really cannot say enough wonderful things about this book and the audio tape of Dylan Thomas reading it. My Christmas seasons have been enriched beyond measure since a loved one gave me this book. It is the most evocative and beautiful Christmas tale I've ever read and reading it aloud on Christmas Eve has become a beloved tradition in our family. It even inspired my husband and me to spend Christmas 2 years ago in the Cotswolds (England, not Wales... I realize), but we yearned for a more traditional "old world" holiday season and found it in the countryside not far from Wales. If you love the spirit of Christmas, this book is truly essential....such beautiful words with amazing soul, you will be enchanted.. A child's christmas in wales is a the best christmas book ever..