One Wise Sheep
Ulrich Hub, illustrated by Jörg Mühle
Gecko Press

Originally published in German, this is a hilarious retelling of the nativity story unlike any other. It’s a chapter book with occasional illustrations that are perfectly appropriate for Ulrich Hub’s wryly humorous text.

Meet seven sheep, a small flock if ever there was one; it includes one that has a plaster cast on its leg, another that wears a bobble hat, one has its wool parted on the side, there’s one that wore braces but now has a retainer (in a case), one with a snuffly nose that means it needs to sleep away from the rest, one with an eye-patch, plus one more.

One night the sheep, unable to sleep see a bright star and the one with a bobble hat tells the others how it was woken up by a voice singing “ ‘I bring you good tidings’ … ‘And suddenly a host of angels appeared in our field singing praises. I think I even heard trumpets.” Where though are the shepherds? Certainly not kidnapped by UFOs, a goat (with attitude) assures snuffly nosed sheep, going on to say, “For unto us a child is born and you shall find it wrapped in swaddling clothes – “ This sheep reports back to the others, they all assume that the newborn is a girl and set off to find the town where this special baby is said to be.

All kinds of misadventures ensue

and eventually they arrive at their destination only to be told that the baby – a boy – and its parents have departed. The sheep are of course disappointed, especially after creating their own present: a song that begins, “Si-i-lent niiiight”—a song that they speculate is sure to be a hit. `’People will still be singing it in a thousand years.” However, they return to their fields (stopping on the way to pick up litter) and there a special treat awaits.

With a plethora of anachronisms (the shepherds have backpacks containing such items as spare socks and toothbrushes, UFOs, gift cards, wolves wearing mirrored sunglasses to name a few), this is a terrific read aloud (so long as audiences know the traditional Nativity story) to share in the classroom or with a family.
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