A Northern Nativity: Christmas Dreams of a Prairie Boy

by William Kurelek

Artist William Kurelek created this uniquely moving book on the theme that Christ came to all people everywhere. What would happen if He came now? A boy imagines that the nativity takes place in northern snows. He dreams that the Christ child is born to Eskimos, to Indians, to Blacks, that the Nativity takes place in a fisherman’s hut, a garage, a cowboy’s barn, that the holy family is given refuge in a city mission, a grain barn, and a country school. A beautiful holiday story for all generations.

Genres: Christmas, Canada, Picture Books, Theology, Religion, Fiction, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1973

About the author

William Kurelek (Wasyl), painter and writer, evangelist. Influenced by Bosch and Brueghel and by prairie roots, his Ukrainian heritage and Roman Catholicism, Kurelek's realistic and symbolic paintings record his historic culture and religious vision. The oldest of 7 children, he was expected to help run the farm. His lack of mechanical aptitude attracted harsh criticism from his father, as did his wish to be an artist. He studied at Winnipeg, Toronto and San Miguel, Mexico. In England (1952-59), he sought psychiatric help and was hospitalized for severe emotional problems, depression and eye pain. He converted to Roman Catholicism (1957), credited God with his healing, and began to paint the Passion of Christ according to St Matthew. This series of 160 paintings is housed in the Niagara Falls Art Gallery and Museum.
Returning to Toronto, he was established by the early 1960s as an important painter, alternating realistic works depicting his prairie roots with didactic series. In the 1970s he began to publish his paintings with simple texts. His books for children (A Prairie Boy's Winter, 1973; Lumberjack, 1974; A Prairie Boy's Summer, 1975; and A Northern Nativity, 1976) have become modern classics. His autobiography, Someone With Me (1973, rev ed 1980), ends with his marriage to Jean Andrews (1962). Kurelek was an outstanding artist with a unique idealistic and pragmatic vision. A modern Jeremiah, he painted a coming apocalypse - divine justice on a materialistic, secular society.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have this on our kids shelf. I picked it up from the bookstore when I was in seminary. It bores the kids. They are too young to appreciate it but it is full of Canadian nostalgia. Young William has dreams which re-image the nativity in his contemporary Northern setting n the 1930s. These dreams provide different images of the Holy Family and those who welcome or reject them.

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are warm and beautiful traits about “A Northern Nativity”, 1976, that I treasure strongly. The way we approach spirituality varies widely; no matter if it is religious-based, or directly spiritual. William drew a universally harmonious story about Jesus representing any person, in any walk of life, which makes his book special and meaningful. However an antiquated idea, of not deserving a relationship with Jesus unless we grovel, brought the harmony and peace down a notch. That explains a four-star grade. The main message impressed me with how broad it is; separate from the artist's talent for putting faces and places to this theme with inspiring, emotional, colour drawings.

The author was at liberty to depict the path to his spirituality but his principal point resonated with me. The vehicle for William's story is himself as a twelve year-old, on farms between Alberta and Manitoba. He dreamed the kinds of people and places he knew into the nativity story. The local touch for me is the most precious trait but I love the broad creativity of attributes overall. William surpasses the adage that skin doesn't matter. Among twenty miniature nativity re-enactments there is a black, Inuit, and Aboriginal holy family but local flavour and life situations are much more tangible.

Drawing from a time he remembered, William featured 1930s labourers needing work or shelter: a construction office, wharf, train boxcars, a ranch, an island church.... He furnished a gratifyingly complete portrait across all of Canada's provinces but in a personal way that would touch any reader profoundly. Mary is especially poignant in a stalled car. Joseph is at the hood as a trucker approaches with a toolbox to offer help. Every being needs a hand once in a while. It is moving to remind ourselves that people eagerly give it.

[Anamaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been on my bookshelf for years, ever since I was little, and I don’t think I’ve ever read it. So I pulled it off this Christmas Eve and tried to read it. It’s not a children’s picture book - instead it’s a series of paintings that depict modern interpretations of the nativity told by an artist who survived the Great Depression. The paintings are nice but they’re not my style. And the passages that accompany them are not at all interesting. I skimmed most.

My copy is a withdrawn library copy that I probably got at a bag sale and I understand why. It looks like a children’s book but it isn’t. It’s more of a religious coffee table book.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author asks: "If it happened there, why not here? If it happened then, why not now?" So Kurelek, a Canadian native, dreams of the nativity taking place in the far north; with the Holy Family being, in turn, Eskimo, Ukranian, Huron Indian, Black and white. Rather than being sacriligious, this vision emphasizes that Jesus Christ came to be the Savior of all people and races. Each of the 20 dreams is illustrated by one full-color painting, showing the Holy Family in 20 different settings of the north. At the back of the book, the site of each painting is listed--all real places or scenes in Canada. For ages 6 and up.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe if I was Canadian I would have read this gem before. Published in 1976, it documents the dreams of a 12 year old boy during a hard winter in the 1930s. Each dream is of the Holy Family in different setting all across Canada. The Holy Family are depicted as being of different ethnicities, and each dream is in a different setting. The dreams are a combination of scripture story and his geography and history lessons from school. The book is an extended meditation on the universality of the Christmas story and the message of Christ. Serious fare, well worth multiple readings

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange and wonderful. I read this to my kids recently and I don't expect they got as much out of it as I did -- it's definitely more abstract and "deep" than Kurelek's other "prairie boy" books. He imagines the Holy Family seeking shelter in twenty different Canadian settings. It's personal, devotional, theological -- and Canadian! (And, sadly, out of print.)

[Kbeckermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

In general I like Kurelek's Canadian paintings. I particularly enjoy this book because it captures life across much of Canada and presenting the nativity in a way that is relevant here. I have given this book to many Canadian friends.

[Rosina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of art by William Kurelek investigating humanity's response to the Christ child.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Best for adults and mature youth.

[Gabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm too young to appreciate and understand this book.