Spirit Child

A nativity story with a difference. John Bierhorst has translated a version of the first Christmas composed by a sixteenth-century missionary in collaboration with Aztec poets, and combining elements from the gospels with European and Aztec folklore. 'The angel Gabriel's face came shining, the way the sun comes up making everything bright. His wings came gleaming, came glistening. They were longer and more brilliantly green than quetzal plumes.' Barbara Cooney's pictures echo the Mexican theme - a host of Aztec angels make music amidst a shower of exotic flowers and birds; the Holy Family sits on a rush floor under a palm covered canopy, a parrot perched overhead. The colours are gorgeous.