Simple Gifts

Chris Raschka

Mar 2013 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

In words, pictures, and song, a nineteenth-century hymn continues to delight “’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free.” So begins Simple Gifts, a generations-old hymn written by the Shakers of Alfred, Maine. In that simple community, people based their lives on kindness, trust, and the joys that come when we sing and dance together. In this lush volume, acclaimed illustrator Chris Raschka brings this famous song to life, celebrating animals and landscapes with bold brushstrokes and warm colors. A cat, a rabbit, a turtle, and even the trees appear to dance to the lyrics. After all, sometimes the finest gifts are the simplest ones.

This fixed-layout ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book, features read-along narration.
   

About the author

Chris Raschka (b. 1959) is an author and illustrator of picture books. He was born in Pennsylvania and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois. He began painting as a child but was also interested in becoming a doctor, so he got a college degree in biology and applied to medical school. On the first day of class, though, he changed his mind. Raschka began to write and draw professionally; his early books include the Caldecott Honor winner Yo! Yes? (1993), The Blushful Hippopotamus (1996), and Arlene Sardine (1998). He has won acclaim for his striking, minimalist style and his ability to tell a story with just one or two dozen words.   An accomplished violist, Raschka has also written many books about music, including John Coltrane’s Giant Steps (2002), Simple Gifts (1998), and Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (1992). He has won Caldecott medals for The Hello, Goodbye Window (2005) and A Ball for Daisy (2011), an entirely wordless book.