The Twelve Books of Christmas, December 26

I am thinking about posting a recommendation for a different Christmas book every day here  Today is the 2nd Day of Christmas, and the book I am recommending is called "Good King Wenceslas", a picture book by John Neal and illustrated by Tim Ladwig.  John Neale wrote the hymn, Good King Wenceslas in 1855, and this beautiful picture book is an illustration of the hymn, and accompanying story.

I remember singing this carol at our school's Christmas program, and having a vague idea of the story behind it, that the King was walking through through the snow in order to help someone who was poor, and the page (what was a page?) was following him and walking in his footsteps, and his footsteps were warm.

The pictures bring the story to life.  There are some pages without words, only pictures showing the preparation of the meal they would bring to the peasant's door.

The front pages of the story related something I never knew:  King Wenceslas was a real person, a tenth century king, from Bohemia, now part of the Czech republic.  There is a statue commemorating him in Prague.

A Historical note at the end of the book tells us a little more about the king, one who was known especially for his kindness and compassion to children, orphans, and slaves.

There have been other books illustrating this lovely carol as well.  Here are a couple of examples:
Good King Wenceslas
Good King Wenceslas

As well, Tim Ladwig has illustrated a number of books for children, including The Lord's Prayer, Psalm 23, and The Beatitudes:  From Slavery to Civil Rights.