Taking the beloved Christmas song as an inspiration, celebrated British children's author and artist Bernadette Watts spins a lovely tale about an impoverished young drummer boy who thinks he has nothing to offer the newborn king that everyone else is rushing to see. Resisting the urgings of the three richly-clad strangers who arrive in his town, as well as that of the local shepherds, who have also come to see this miraculous baby, Benjamin is eventually convinced by his friend Rachel to visit the stable where this king is to be found. Here, in the peace and quiet, he finds something he can give after all: his drumming...

I have a fondness for Christmas picture-books, particularly ones that adapt or use Christmas carols and songs for their story, so when I saw The Little Drummer Boy I was quite excited to pick it up - all the more so since I do enjoy Watt's artwork. The story here is simply but evocatively told, and the artwork lovely, capturing the wintry charm of the setting quite beautifully. Although this is a Nativity story of sorts, the setting is clearly northern European, rather than Middle Eastern. I'm not really sure why the back dust jacket blurb references the Brother Grimm, as The Little Drummer Boy is an American composition - it was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941, and was apparently based on an unknown Czech carol - and not based on any of the Grimms' fairy-tales. It does bear some resemblance to the classic medieval French legend concerning a juggler who entertains the Christ child, retold by Barbara Cooney in The Little Juggler and Tomie DePaola in (his Italianized retelling) The Clown of God, although I don't believe those stories are set at Christmas. Leaving that oddity aside, this was an appealing holiday picture-book, perhaps a little heavy on text, but beautifully told and illustrated. ( )