School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3With gentle touches of humor, Collington weaves his wordless magic once more in this delicately painted story of kindness rewarded. An old woman, living alone in a trailer, spends her days playing an accordion on the street for money. But times are especially difficult, even in this middle-class town. Desperate, she sells her accordion for cash, only to have it stolen by a masked bandit who then pilfers the poor box from the local church and vandalizes its manger scene. Intercepting the thief, the woman is able to return the money and does her best to set the scene to rights. Then, exhausted and hungry, she collapses in the snow. The manger figures come to life and take her home, where they all pitch in to see that she has her accordion back and that she has food. It's all part of the miracle that none of the merchants or townspeople are at all surprised at the sight of the small figures making deals at the pawn shop or prowling the aisles at the supermarket. Collington's finely detailed paintings vividly portray the old woman's surprise and delight at what awaits her that Christmas morning. Panels and boxes of various sizes add variety to the pages. Outdoor scenes are done in muted tones with lots of ice blue that contrast against the vivid colors of the Nativity figures' clothing. In spite of the serious subject, this is an upbeat story to treasure for this and many Christmases to come. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Also back in print, Peter Collington's 1997 A Small Miracle wordlessly tells of an impoverished old woman who restores the church's vandalized creche; when she falls in the snow, the figures come to life and rescue her. PW's starred review praised the "skillful blend of fantasy and realism." (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
