Silent Night

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright!

It is a silent, snowy December night. Shopkeepers and country folk in the tiny Vermont village are hurrying everywhere, lighting candles, wrapping gifts, baking pies—getting ready. But for what? For Christmas Eve? Or is there more?

The Miller family knows there is! Pa and the boys, little Andy and Jamie, rush to the train station through the blizzardy twilight to pick up Grandma Stokes. Old Paul, the hired hand, rides to get Doc Herrick. Mama's quilty friend Tinker won't leave her side. They all know something truly wonderful is going to happen this Christmas Eve, snow or no snow, right here at Miller farm. In his unmistakable style, world renowned folk artist Will Moses brings Christmas to a Vermont village in an original story that the entire family—boys and girls, mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles—can share by their own candlelight year after year.

One snowy Christmas Eve a Vermont community makes preparations for the holiday as well as for the arrival of another Christmas miracle. Includes the text of the Christmas carol "Silent Night."

It's Christmas Eve and everyone in the small Vermont town is busy getting ready-baking pies, lighting candles, and hanging decorations. The Miller family is getting ready, too. Pa and the boys must rush to the train station to pick up Grandma, so they can return home to Mama before the storm comes. When they finally arrive back home, the town doctor and Mama's friends are already there, waiting . . . waiting for something truly wonderful this Christmas Eve.

"The lyrics of the beloved carol provide the springboard for Moses's joyous Christmas story. Covered bridges and horse-pulled sleighs give the tale a nineteenth-century feel, while his human figures radiate the warmth of the season." (Publishers Weekly)

Publishers Weekly

The lyrics of the beloved carol act as springboard for the story of the Miller family, who make last-minute holiday preparations as Mama is about to give birth. "Covered bridges and horse-pulled sleighs give the tale a 19th-century feel, while Moses's human figures radiate the warmth of the season," wrote PW. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

Painting is as much a part of the Moses family tradition as the family homestead in Eagle Bridge, New York. There Will Moses has painted since he was a little boy, learning firsthand from his grandfather, folk artist Forrest Moses, who learned from his mother, Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. Developing his own folk style, Will has become an internationally beloved artist in his own right, his art displayed in collections throughout the world, including that of the White House.

His first picture book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a retelling of Washington Irving's famous tale, was published by Philomel in 1995.

Will Moses' studio is at the Mount Nebo Gallery and Farm in Eagle Bridge, where he lives with his wife, Sharon, and their three children.