A moving and memorable Christmas tale, Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal. Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley. But he is a gruff, cold man - no one knows of his grief for the wife and child he lost years ago. Then one day in early winter, the widow McDowell comes to call. Would Mr Toomey carve a set of nativity figures for her and her son Thomas in time for Christmas? When, reluctantly, he agrees, Jonathan Toomey's Christmas miracle begins...
First published in 1995, this beautifully illustrated, award-winning story has become an established seasonal favourite with children and adults around the world.
Reviews
"A deeply moving story... The masterly paintings have an extraordinary intensity and depth, with light and shade used to brilliant effect... This has the feel of a classic." The Daily Telegraph
"A deeply moving story... The masterly paintings have an extraordinary intensity and depth."
Daily Telegraph
"A breathtakingly beautiful book, sure to become a classic." Junior Education
"Fast becoming a classic... This successful marriage of words and pictures will reveal something new on each rereading." Times Educational Supplement
"The story of Jonathan Toomey, a widower who has withdrawn from the world, only to be brought back to rejoin life by a widow and her son, is a true Christmas treat. The touching story is made more poignant by Lynch's illustrations. His opening pictures of Toomey reveal a man in the shadows-grumpy and sad. As he and the young boy spend time together, the colors lighten and life brightens. A tour de force by author and illustrator." Children's Literature
Accolades
Winner Kate Greenaway Medal 1995.
Author Biography
Susan Wojciechowski worked as a school librarian until recently. The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is her first picture book. She lives near New York with her husband and children. P.J. Lynch won the 1987 Mother Goose Award for his first illustrated book, Alan Garner's A Bag of Moonshine. He has twice been awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal - for The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. He has also been shortlisted twice for the same award - for the Norwegian fairy-tale East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon, retold by Naomi Lewis, and Catkin by Antonia Barber. His latest picture book for Walker is Ignis by Gina Wilson.
