Author Margaret Hodges and illustrator Tim Ladwig join forces in this picture-book history of one of the world's most beloved Christmas carols. Written by Austrian priest Joseph Mohr on Christmas Eve, 1818, when his church's organ broke down, thereby threatening the music that made such an integral part of their congregation's Christmas Eve mass, the words of the song were paired with a tune composed by church organist Franz Gruber. The origin of the song was forgotten for a time, but it was popularized by an Austrian family who sang it at a fair in Leipzig, leading to its inclusion in a small book entitled Four Songs of the Tyrol... Sung by the Strasser Family of the Ziller Valley. It eventually caught the attention of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, who had it sung every Christmas by his Cathedral Choir, and whose curiosity about its origins led to its true authorship being revealed. It was brought to America by another singing family of the Ziller Valley, and first translated into English in 1863, by John Freeman Young. It went on to be translated into many languages, to be sung at key moments in various conflicts, including the 1914 Christmas Truce during World War I, and remains a most popular Christmas carol today...

I found Silent Night: The Song and Its Story both informative and moving, and appreciated the history it provided of the carol after it was initially created by Mohr and Gruber. That part of the story - the creation of the song - was the only part I already knew, so the rest of it - how it spread and became popular, how its singing has bridged many divides, even in the midst of war - was new to me. There were moments, during my reading, that I found myself tearing up, particularly when Hodges described how the song was sung across the trenches of World War I, or how a Korean Army unit sang it as they moved along during the Korean War. I do wish that the author had included her sources however, as I cannot find any information on that second anecdote, or on the one set in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp (also during WWI). Given that this is meant to be an informational book, I found the lack of afterword or source notes truly disappointing. Leaving that flaw aside, I did greatly appreciate this one, both for its text and for its gorgeous illustrations. I had encountered Tim Ladwig's work before, in the version of Good King Wenceslas that he illustrated, but it was good to see more of it. With the caveat that they be aware of the lack of back matter, this is one I would recommend to those children interested in the history of Silent Night, or in the history of music transmission in general. ( )

Tells how the well-known Christmas carol, Silent Night, came to be written and performed in Austria in the early 1800's. ( )

I love history, even if it's about how a beloved song came to be. This book is almost a tribute to the two men who wrote and compose the song 'Silent Night'. Apparently, the two men had been all but forgotten, if it hadn't been for legend. ( )