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*Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem* by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
 
Also illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher:

When Mermaids Sleep

It's Milking Time

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart

What a Good Big Brother!
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Ages 4-8 40 pages Schwartz & Wade September 2008 Hardcover    

Amazing Peace is a gift book that will last a lifetime and probably will be passed on through generations to last many lifetimes.

In this picture book, a contrast of dark and light images combine to celebrate the hope of a peaceful world. It invokes the advent of the holiday season with illustrations of a family joining with its community to rejoice in the prospect of a serenely united mankind.

The poem, first read by Angelou at the 2005 White House tree-lighting ceremony, appeals to all people - rich and poor, black and white, of all faiths - to proclaim "the birth of Jesus Christ/ Into the great religions of the world."

A CD recording of Angelou reading "Amazing Peace" accompanies the printed poem and its glorious new illustrations, illustrations that glow on the pages. Snow scenes alternate with indoor festivities, and each conveys the sentiment that suffuses Angelou's words. Everywhere the reader looks, there are radiant scenes of peace. And where there is peace, there is beauty. The ilustrations ignite joy with their intense incandescence.

Maya Angelou has becom an icon to the world with her autobiographies, which began with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her body of work also includes five poetry collections, a cookbook, and "On the Pulse of Morning." That poem was written for and read by her at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher have collaborated on more than a half dozen award-winning picture books, including Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days. Their work is painterly and emotionally satisfying.
 


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