Good King Wenceslas

by Pauline Baynes

Beautifully illustrated in rich, glowing colours, this is the exciting story behind the well-known carol of Good King Wenceslas. The words and music of the carol are also included.

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1983

About the author

Pauline Diana Baynes was an English book illustrator, whose work encompassed more than 100 books, notably those by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Pauline is probably best known for her illustrations in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. She was also J.R.R. Tolkien's chosen illustrator: her drawings appear in Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Smith of Wootton Major, Tree and Leaf, and after Tolkien's death the poem Bilbo's Last Song.

Pauline Baynes began her career with little formal training. After spending her early years in India, where her father was commissioner in Agra, she and her elder sister came to England for their schooling. When their father retired, their parents settled near Farnham in Surrey and Pauline, as the unmarried daughter, found herself looking after them during the day and trying to illustrate at night.

Pauline attended the Slade School of Fine Art, where her sister was completing a diploma course, but after only a year she volunteered to work for the Ministry of Defence, painting camouflage. However, since her kind of attention to detail and accuracy were skills essential for map-making, she was soon transferred to another department to draw maps. This experience was very helpful when she later drew maps of Narnia for Jack, and of Middle-earth for his friend J.R.R. Tolkien.

Over the years Pauline Baynes created many new illustrations for use on book jackets, as well as colouring the original illustrations. In 1989, she made a series of full-page colour paintings for two books, one called The Land of Narnia, and the other a beautiful, deluxe version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

She was awarded the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal in 1968 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to children's illustration.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celebrated British artist and illustrator Pauline Baynes turns to the subject of Bohemian king and saint, Wenceslas, the subject of the beloved nineteenth-century Christmas carol penned by J.M. Neale, in this picture-book biography. The elder of two brothers born to the royal family of Bohemia in the early tenth century, Wenceslas was raised a Christian by his grandmother, Queen Ludmilla. Despite the assassination of his grandmother at the behest of his non-Christian mother, Wenceslas kept to his new faith. He was credited with many good deals - the gift of food and fuel to a poor peasant, which makes up the subject of the famous carol, amongst them - and many brave ones as well. At fourteen he led an army against the Duke of Bavaria, and at eighteen he seized the throne from his mother. He is said to have once fought the leader of an opposing army in single combat, to spare his troops from bloodshed. This desire to avoid slaughter led him to agree to terms of tribute to Saxony - five hundred pieces of silver and one hundred and twenty oxen per year - rather than go to war again, an unpopular decision that led to his own assassination by his younger brother, the pagan Boleslav...

King for only four years, Wenceslas would probably have slipped into obscurity, had he not been made the patron saint of Bohemia. Even then, he might not have become so well-known in the English-speaking world, were it not for J.M. Neale's carol. Be that as it may, he is certainly an interesting personage, from a historical perspective, and I enjoyed learning more about him in this slim picture-book. I would be interested to know what historical sources Baynes used - no bibliography is included - and how accurate her narrative is. Given the frequent description of various incidents as "legends," and the use of words like "probably," it is clear that many of the details of Wenceslas' story simply might not have definitive historical evidence to back them up. The question of Wenceslas' page, for instance, who is here called Poidevin (rather than Stephen, which I have often seen elsewhere), and who is said to have been hanged after his master's death, for defending him against his attackers, and managing to kill one of the assassins, I found myself wondering whether there was evidence of such a figure, or whether he too was legendary. Leaving such issues aside, this was an enjoyable and informative book. Although the carol is reproduced at the front of the book, with both musical notation and complete verses, it is not simply a picture-book presentation of that carol, but an exploration of its subject. The artwork is lovely - the cover hardly does it justice - with a medieval feeling entirely appropriate to the story. I was reminded, while reading, of how much I have enjoyed Baynes' artwork in other books, such as C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia , Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham , and Rumer Godden's The Dragon of Og . Highly recommended, to Pauline Baynes fans, and to anyone looking for children's books exploring the history of St. Wenceslas.

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this version of Good King Wenceslas because it included the music, the lyrics, the legends and the history and of course it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great combination of history and song here, with good illustrations.

Perfect reading for the second day of Christmas, St Stephen's Day.

[Logan Thune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute stud of a king.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pauline Baynes' illustrations are beautiful.

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favorite Christmas carols. I'm not actually a huge fan of Baynes, but it's hard to find any other illustrated edition of this carol.