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St. Nicholas and the Valley Beyond: a Christmas Legend
Featuring fifty full-color paintings and two gatefolds, a beautifully produced oversized volume offers an allegorical tale about St. Nicholas and the riddle he and the inhabitants of the Valley Beyond must solve. 60,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo. Tour.
- GenresChristmas
96 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1994
39 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Kushner
139 books604 followersEllen Kushner weaves together multiple careers as a writer, radio host, teacher, performer and public speaker.
A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.
In addition, her short fiction appears regularly in numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into a wide variety of languages, including Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Latvian and Finnish.
Upon moving to Boston, she became a radio host for WGBH-FM. In 1996, she created Sound & Spirit, PRI’s award-winning national public radio series. With Ellen as host and writer, the program aired nationally until 2010; many of the original shows can now be heard archived online.
As a live stage performer, her solo spoken word works include Esther: the Feast of Masks, and The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra). In 2008, Vital Theatre commissioned her to script a full-scale theatrical version. The Klezmer Nutcracker played to sold-out audiences in New York City, with Kushner in the role of the magical Tante Miriam.
In 2012, Kushner entered the world of audiobooks, narrating and co-producing “illuminated” versions of all three of the “Riverside” novels with SueMedia Productions for Neil Gaiman Presents at Audible.com—and winning a 2013 Audie Award for Swordspoint.
Other recent projects include the urban fantasy anthology Welcome to Bordertown (co-edited with Holly Black), and The Witches of Lublin, a musical audio drama written with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom (which one Gabriel, Gracie and Wilbur Awards in 2012). In 2015 she contributed to and oversaw the creation of the online Riverside series prequel Tremontaine for Serial Box with collaborators Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Patty Bryant.
A dauntless traveler, Ellen Kushner has been a guest of honor at conventions all over the world. She regularly teaches writing at the prestigious Clarion Workshop and the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature.
Ellen Kushner is a co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, an organization supporting work that falls between genre categories. She lives in New York City with author and educator Delia Sherman, a lot of books, airplane and theater ticket stubs, and no cats whatsoever.
A graduate of Barnard College, she also attended Bryn Mawr College, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She began her career in publishing as a fiction editor in New York City, but left to write her first novel Swordspoint, which has become a cult classic, hailed as the progenitor of the “mannerpunk” (or “Fantasy of Manners”) school of urban fantasy. Swordspoint was followed by Thomas the Rhymer (World Fantasy Award and the Mythopoeic Award), and two more novels in her “Riverside” series. In 2015, Thomas the Rhymer was published in the UK as part of the Gollancz “Fantasy Masterworks” line.
In addition, her short fiction appears regularly in numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into a wide variety of languages, including Japanese, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Latvian and Finnish.
Upon moving to Boston, she became a radio host for WGBH-FM. In 1996, she created Sound & Spirit, PRI’s award-winning national public radio series. With Ellen as host and writer, the program aired nationally until 2010; many of the original shows can now be heard archived online.
As a live stage performer, her solo spoken word works include Esther: the Feast of Masks, and The Golden Dreydl: a Klezmer ‘Nutcracker’ for Chanukah (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra). In 2008, Vital Theatre commissioned her to script a full-scale theatrical version. The Klezmer Nutcracker played to sold-out audiences in New York City, with Kushner in the role of the magical Tante Miriam.
In 2012, Kushner entered the world of audiobooks, narrating and co-producing “illuminated” versions of all three of the “Riverside” novels with SueMedia Productions for Neil Gaiman Presents at Audible.com—and winning a 2013 Audie Award for Swordspoint.
Other recent projects include the urban fantasy anthology Welcome to Bordertown (co-edited with Holly Black), and The Witches of Lublin, a musical audio drama written with Elizabeth Schwartz and Yale Strom (which one Gabriel, Gracie and Wilbur Awards in 2012). In 2015 she contributed to and oversaw the creation of the online Riverside series prequel Tremontaine for Serial Box with collaborators Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Patty Bryant.
A dauntless traveler, Ellen Kushner has been a guest of honor at conventions all over the world. She regularly teaches writing at the prestigious Clarion Workshop and the Hollins University Graduate Program in Children’s Literature.
Ellen Kushner is a co-founder and past president of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, an organization supporting work that falls between genre categories. She lives in New York City with author and educator Delia Sherman, a lot of books, airplane and theater ticket stubs, and no cats whatsoever.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 24, 2020
This hidden gem is breathtakingly beautiful, each illustration is filled with movement and that warm cozy hygge feeling that you can only get around Christmas time.
I got very invested and could not wait to solve the riddle and see how the story would tie itself together. Truth is I was much more interested in the slightly complex plot about the drive of artistry and the gifts the natural world gives us than my 4-year-old who was much too young. That child/adult audience dichotomy is possibly why the book isn't more widely known.
If you fall into the cross-section of parenthood, fantasy fan, and Christmas lover what an absolute treasure of rich world-building and beautiful illustration this beautiful book is.
I got very invested and could not wait to solve the riddle and see how the story would tie itself together. Truth is I was much more interested in the slightly complex plot about the drive of artistry and the gifts the natural world gives us than my 4-year-old who was much too young. That child/adult audience dichotomy is possibly why the book isn't more widely known.
If you fall into the cross-section of parenthood, fantasy fan, and Christmas lover what an absolute treasure of rich world-building and beautiful illustration this beautiful book is.
December 9, 2024
This book is truly a visual masterpiece, boasting over 80 pages of stunning, full-page illustrations that are nothing short of breathtaking. It’s easily one of the most beautiful books in my collection. However, the story itself left much to be desired. The writing felt unpolished and strayed far from the traditional tale of Christmas and St. Nicholas. Unfortunately, my kids and I lost interest about halfway through and ended up DNFing it. Our Christmas family TBR pile is already to the ceiling so we have no time to read stories we are not enjoying. That said, the illustrations alone make it worth keeping in our Christmas book collection.
December 18, 2017
Cztery gwiazdki wyłącznie za warstwę graficzną - obrazy Richarda W. Burhansa,wykonane w konwecji s-f, oszałamiają doborem kolorystyki, precyzją wykonania, magicznością; czego nie można powiedzieć o ckliwej amerykańskiej historii o chłopcu imieniem Mik, który przedostaje się do krainy spoza świata śmiertelników i tam zamieszkuje z Willią w starym zamku z tajemniczymi inskrypcjami na ścianach: "Żadne ręce nie mogą mnie stworzyć, dwie dłonie mogą nadać mi kształt, a wziąć mnie może każda dłoń". W zamku powstanie słynna dolina, z której rozsyła się na cały świat Jabłkowe Gwiazdy.
April 11, 2021
Beautiful story, beautiful illustrations!
December 27, 2021
Always a pleasure to find the time during the holiday season to reread this treasure: this year in the sad bubble created by another Covid wave in Montreal
July 21, 2024
Fanciful. Strange. A bit tedious to read. No reference at all to the real origins of St.Nicholas or Christmas. Does have a good message of giving.
March 10, 2009
Should have read this around Christmas time. This oversized, beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a boy named Nicholas who wanders into a hidden valley where everyone is happy and likes to make things. There he stays and grows up and marries and forgets the world of poverty and hunger that he left behind. But something in his happy world is wrong, and he and his wife, with the help of a mysterious boy they name Wolf, set out to find the answer. Kushner is trying to create a legend about how Santa Claus began giving out toys at Christmas time. It was an ok story, but a bit too preachy for me.
December 20, 2015
Beautiful detailed paintings create the legend of St. Nicholas. Richard Burman took ten years to paint them. The story is a bit trite, but the overall effect is still a marvel.
February 22, 2011
This is my all time favorite Christmas book and has the most beautiful illustrations!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews