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The Fox at the Manger
For the first time since the war, the Christmas peal is ringing at St Paul's Cathedral. There is joy. There is new hope. It is Christmas Eve, the carol service has ended, and a woman with three small boys leaves the cathedral, the children swooping like pigeons.
'Why weren't there any wild animals at the crib? Haven't they got something to give?' asked one of the children.
And I heard myself say, 'Yes, they have.'
Was it true, what I told them? Did I dream it? Where it came from I do not know but I seemed to remember every word, just as if I had heard it . . .
Outside the cathedral, the children are told the nativity story from a unique perspective: that of a fox. Despite the scorn of the other animals, he enters the stable to offer the child a gift that only he can give.
'Why weren't there any wild animals at the crib? Haven't they got something to give?' asked one of the children.
And I heard myself say, 'Yes, they have.'
Was it true, what I told them? Did I dream it? Where it came from I do not know but I seemed to remember every word, just as if I had heard it . . .
Outside the cathedral, the children are told the nativity story from a unique perspective: that of a fox. Despite the scorn of the other animals, he enters the stable to offer the child a gift that only he can give.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
P.L. Travers
82 books740 followersPamela Lyndon Travers was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist, popularly remembered for her series of children's novels about mystical nanny Mary Poppins.
She was born to bank manager Travers Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes. Her father died when she was seven, and although "epileptic seizure delirium" was given as the cause of death, Travers herself "always believed the underlying cause was sustained, heavy drinking".
Travers began to publish her poems while still a teenager and wrote for The Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers.
In 1925 while in Ireland, Travers met the poet George William Russell who, as editor of The Irish Statesman, accepted some of her poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other Irish poets who fostered her interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Later, the mystic Gurdjieff would have a great effect on her, as would also have on several other literary figures.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success.Five sequels followed, as well as a collection of other novels, poetry collections and works of non-fiction.
The Disney musical adaptation was released in 1964. Primarily based on the first novel in what was then a sequence of four books, it also lifted elements from the sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back. Although Travers was an adviser to the production she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins's character, felt ambivalent about the music and disliked the use of animation to such an extent that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. At the film's star-studded premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequence had to go. Disney responded by saying "Pamela, the ship has sailed." and walked away. Travers would never again agree to another Poppins/Disney adaptation, though Disney made several attempts to persuade her to change her mind.
So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Walt Disney adaptation and the way she felt she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she only acquiesced upon the condition that only English born writers (and specifically no Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production even though they were still very prolific. Original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production however. These points were stipulated in her last will and testament.
Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in 1996.
Although Travers never married, she adopted a boy when she was in her late 30s.
She was born to bank manager Travers Robert Goff and Margaret Agnes. Her father died when she was seven, and although "epileptic seizure delirium" was given as the cause of death, Travers herself "always believed the underlying cause was sustained, heavy drinking".
Travers began to publish her poems while still a teenager and wrote for The Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers.
In 1925 while in Ireland, Travers met the poet George William Russell who, as editor of The Irish Statesman, accepted some of her poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other Irish poets who fostered her interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Later, the mystic Gurdjieff would have a great effect on her, as would also have on several other literary figures.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success.Five sequels followed, as well as a collection of other novels, poetry collections and works of non-fiction.
The Disney musical adaptation was released in 1964. Primarily based on the first novel in what was then a sequence of four books, it also lifted elements from the sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back. Although Travers was an adviser to the production she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins's character, felt ambivalent about the music and disliked the use of animation to such an extent that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later Mary Poppins novels. At the film's star-studded premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequence had to go. Disney responded by saying "Pamela, the ship has sailed." and walked away. Travers would never again agree to another Poppins/Disney adaptation, though Disney made several attempts to persuade her to change her mind.
So fervent was Travers' dislike of the Walt Disney adaptation and the way she felt she had been treated during the production, that well into her 90s, when she was approached by producer Cameron Mackintosh to do the stage musical, she only acquiesced upon the condition that only English born writers (and specifically no Americans) and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the creative process of the stage musical. This specifically excluded the Sherman Brothers from writing additional songs for the production even though they were still very prolific. Original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production however. These points were stipulated in her last will and testament.
Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in 1996.
Although Travers never married, she adopted a boy when she was in her late 30s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 8, 2018
A mother, or is it a Nanny? takes three young boys to a Carol service at St Paul's Cathedral. They are meant to take one of their own toys to give to the poor, a little girl cries giving up her doll, and the boys don't want to part with their precious belongings either, luckily this mother/Nanny doesn't make them, so they stuff their treasures inside their coats and jumpers. After the service, they sit down on the steps and their mother/Nanny tells them a story about the gifts the animals brought to Jesus in the Manger. Although as a whole story I wouldn't rate this as highly as a Mary Poppins, there was still the odd flash of 5 star brilliance with P L Traver's stream of consciousness philosophy. I think this is a book more appealing to adults than children, it's a looking back book rather than a looking forward one. An enjoyable quick read for the festive period with beautiful engravings by Thomas Bewick.
December 24, 2018
P.L. Travers, author of the beloved novels about that magical nanny, Mary Poppins, turns her attention to the Christmas story in this lovely little volume. Narrated by an unnamed woman - perhaps Travers herself? - The Fox at the Manger details how three young boys are brought to St. Paul's cathedral in London, shortly after the end of World War II, to attend the traditional Christmas Eve service there. The first part of the book concerns the service itself, and the (hilarious) questions the boys have about what they are experiencing. Responding to the hymn of The Friendly Beasts, which forms an important part of the service, and of the narrative, the boys afterward question the narrator, wanting to know whether the wild animals also brought gifts to the Christ Child. There follows an inset story, told by the narrator to the boys, concerning the Fox, and the extraordinary gift he gave...
Such is the beauty and power of Travers' tale here, and such was the strength of my response to it, that when I finished reading it yesterday, sitting in the Rose Reading Room of the New York Public Library, I could only sit there, gazing into space. I had planned, as is my custom on the weekend, to spend the entire day reading various titles, designated as in-library use only, but after The Fox at the Manger I found that I simply couldn't stomach the idea of reading anything else at that moment. I needed time to digest. Time to ponder. Travers' narrative is beautifully written, with passages I needed to read time and again, to appreciate them fully. The scene in which the narrator imagines London past, present and future, with all the times and generations bleeding into one another, and co-existing, was magical. The entire story of the fox, with its references to Reynardian lore, and its sensitive understanding of the conflicting and yet complementary nature of wild and domestic animals, was poignant and powerful. As someone with an interest in foxes - I wrote my masters dissertation on retellings of the The History of Reynard the Fox for English-language children - I was pretty much guaranteed to find this one interesting. What I didn't expect was to find it so beautiful, so moving, and so thought-provoking. I have never seen Christ compared to a fox before, but when the vulpine character here tells the Child that "it is you who are the fox now, alone against the world," it felt so perfectly right! I had never really considered the meaning and significance of those Biblical passages which speak of the "lion lying down with lamb," but Travers made me think of them, and invested them with a power of which I had not dreamed. Here, from the concluding scenes of the Fox's tale, are some passages that spoke to me most directly:
"His yellow eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the Child and the Child's eyes shone unblinkingly back at him. With a look that seemed to unwind time the two gazed at each other. What they said in that look no one can tell. They might have lived a lifetime in it - thirty-three years of life maybe - stretching away from this winter night to a far-off day in spring."
"This is the way the wheel turns, coming at last to full circle, with wild as well as tame at the crib; lion and turtle-dove together and barnyard beasts lying down with the fox. For wild and tame are but two halves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole."
There is a sharpness of pain here, and an understanding of sacrifice, that make The Fox at the Manger one of the best Nativity Stories I have ever read. I am so very glad that, after many years of meaning to get to this one, I finally did, and I know that it will linger with me for a long time.
Such is the beauty and power of Travers' tale here, and such was the strength of my response to it, that when I finished reading it yesterday, sitting in the Rose Reading Room of the New York Public Library, I could only sit there, gazing into space. I had planned, as is my custom on the weekend, to spend the entire day reading various titles, designated as in-library use only, but after The Fox at the Manger I found that I simply couldn't stomach the idea of reading anything else at that moment. I needed time to digest. Time to ponder. Travers' narrative is beautifully written, with passages I needed to read time and again, to appreciate them fully. The scene in which the narrator imagines London past, present and future, with all the times and generations bleeding into one another, and co-existing, was magical. The entire story of the fox, with its references to Reynardian lore, and its sensitive understanding of the conflicting and yet complementary nature of wild and domestic animals, was poignant and powerful. As someone with an interest in foxes - I wrote my masters dissertation on retellings of the The History of Reynard the Fox for English-language children - I was pretty much guaranteed to find this one interesting. What I didn't expect was to find it so beautiful, so moving, and so thought-provoking. I have never seen Christ compared to a fox before, but when the vulpine character here tells the Child that "it is you who are the fox now, alone against the world," it felt so perfectly right! I had never really considered the meaning and significance of those Biblical passages which speak of the "lion lying down with lamb," but Travers made me think of them, and invested them with a power of which I had not dreamed. Here, from the concluding scenes of the Fox's tale, are some passages that spoke to me most directly:
"His yellow eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the Child and the Child's eyes shone unblinkingly back at him. With a look that seemed to unwind time the two gazed at each other. What they said in that look no one can tell. They might have lived a lifetime in it - thirty-three years of life maybe - stretching away from this winter night to a far-off day in spring."
"This is the way the wheel turns, coming at last to full circle, with wild as well as tame at the crib; lion and turtle-dove together and barnyard beasts lying down with the fox. For wild and tame are but two halves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole."
There is a sharpness of pain here, and an understanding of sacrifice, that make The Fox at the Manger one of the best Nativity Stories I have ever read. I am so very glad that, after many years of meaning to get to this one, I finally did, and I know that it will linger with me for a long time.
December 15, 2017
P. L. Travers was one of my favorite authors when I was about 12 years old. She created the wonderful stories of Mary Poppins (not to be confused with the Hollywood Julie Andrews version, which is so different that it shouldn't be allowed to use the name in my opinion.) This little book, really no more than a short story, was first published about 1961 but didn't make it to the USA until much later. I had never heard of it, and when I saw it there was no question but that I had to read it.
In brief, a mother of three children tells of her experience in taking her offspring to St. Paul's Cathedral, London, for Christmas Eve in 1945. The usual carols and ceremonies, including a nativity scene, were involved. Afterward, one of the children asks why there are no wild animals in the nativity. Weren't they present? Didn't they offer gifts as the domestic animals did in the song "The Friendly Beasts?"
In the story, she gives her answer. The fox comes to the stable in Bethlehem to offer his gift, and does so despite the resistance of the traditional cow, donkey, sheep, etc. A black sheep appears, though they are usually omitted from nativity scenes, and at the end of the story, a swan as well.
The tale is delightful, the fox is a hero, and the writing is classic Travers. Well worth seeking out and reading for a bit of nostalgia if nothing else. Plus it's a lovely Christmas story that can be read to children even today.
In brief, a mother of three children tells of her experience in taking her offspring to St. Paul's Cathedral, London, for Christmas Eve in 1945. The usual carols and ceremonies, including a nativity scene, were involved. Afterward, one of the children asks why there are no wild animals in the nativity. Weren't they present? Didn't they offer gifts as the domestic animals did in the song "The Friendly Beasts?"
In the story, she gives her answer. The fox comes to the stable in Bethlehem to offer his gift, and does so despite the resistance of the traditional cow, donkey, sheep, etc. A black sheep appears, though they are usually omitted from nativity scenes, and at the end of the story, a swan as well.
The tale is delightful, the fox is a hero, and the writing is classic Travers. Well worth seeking out and reading for a bit of nostalgia if nothing else. Plus it's a lovely Christmas story that can be read to children even today.
December 28, 2017
“Un dono o viene dal cuore o non vale niente.”
È la Vigilia di Natale a Londra, una Vigilia assai speciale perché la prima dopo la guerra: la prima in cui la vita riprende a scorrere nella normalità, ed i bambini tornano a danzare festosi là dove fino a poco tempo prima cadevano le bombe. Tre di loro, come molti altri, si recano alla cattedrale di St. Paul per rendere omaggio al Bambino Gesù e fargli dono - non senza un briciolo di riluttanza - dei loro giocattoli. Durante la funzione religiosa, l'attenzione dei piccoli e della loro accompagnatrice (presumibilmente la madre di uno dei tre, nonché la voce narrante) cade sul presepe e in special modo sull'assenza, nella scena della Natività, di animali selvatici. Perché mai, si chiedono i bambini, solo agli animali domestici è concesso portare doni a Gesù Bambino? Forse le altre creature non avevano niente da regalargli?
Colpita da questa osservazione, e lei stessa immersa in simili ragionamenti, la narratrice inizia così a raccontare ai suoi giovani ascoltatori la storia di una volpe che, tra lo sdegno generale, si reca all mangiatoia per onorare anch’ella il Bambino, insegnando a uomini ed animali il valore dei doni e il significato del dare.
Non conoscevo Pamela L. Travers, o per meglio dire ne avevo sentito parlare soltanto come autrice di Mary Poppins, la serie di libri da cui Walt Disney trasse, nei primi anni Sessanta, il suo celebre film. Questo racconto natalizio - o “favola di Natale”, come viene impropriamente definito nel sottotitolo dell'edizione Sellerio - è stata quindi la mia prima esperienza con la scrittrice; un'esperienza peraltro inaspettata, capitatami tra le mani quasi per caso in questi giorni di Feste e di letture a tema.
Ad attrarre la mia curiosità sono stati principalmente i riferimenti al presepe, una tradizione natalizia a me molto cara, che però fino a questo momento non mi era mai accaduto di incontrare in alcuna opera anglosassone.
Il racconto, lo ammetto, non è esattamente ciò che mi sarei aspettata, innanzitutto perché non si tratta di un vero e proprio racconto, bensì di una riflessione dell'autrice sulla rappresentazione della nascita di Gesù e sulla percezione che di essa hanno i bambini. Al centro della storia vi sono pertanto proprio le speculazioni surreali, ma non per questo prive di una sorprendente logica, dei più piccoli, e la loro innata tendenza a mischiare realtà e immaginazione, come la Travers non manca di evidenziare:
“Nel loro mondo Papà Natale non si distingue dai tre Re, perché tutto ciò che era è sempre vivo anche adesso. Duemila anni fa è ora, fatti e favole sono verità e nulla li separa.”
Sebbene le osservazioni e il messaggio del libro siano indubbiamente degni di nota, devo però confessare di avere avuto qualche difficoltà ad immedesimarmi nello spirito della storia, e questo probabilmente a causa della scrittura dell'autrice: elegante, fluida e sincera, ma ahimè fin troppo fredda e distaccata. Certo, ho apprezzato l'assenza di quella pattina di sentimentalismo un po' stucchevole che di solito associamo alla letteratura per l'infanzia, ma nel contempo, considerando anche il tema trattato, mi sarebbe piaciuto ritrovare nella prosa della Travers un pizzico di quel calore che generalmente ci si attende non tanto da un testo rivolto ai più piccoli (La volpe alla mangiatoia non lo è affatto!) ma quantomeno da una lettura natalizia.
Un altro aspetto che non mi è piaciuto è stata la scelta - discutibile, ma in parte comprensibile, nell'ottica di una parabola destinata a diventare il fulcro assoluto della narrazione - di spersonalizzare i tre bambini del racconto identificandoli banalmente con X, Y, Z piuttosto che attraverso dei nomi veri e propri.
Insomma, un testo stilisticamente apprezzabile ed interessante nei contenuti, ma sicuramente, almeno dal mio punto di vista, non annoverabile tra le imprescindibili letture di questo periodo.
È la Vigilia di Natale a Londra, una Vigilia assai speciale perché la prima dopo la guerra: la prima in cui la vita riprende a scorrere nella normalità, ed i bambini tornano a danzare festosi là dove fino a poco tempo prima cadevano le bombe. Tre di loro, come molti altri, si recano alla cattedrale di St. Paul per rendere omaggio al Bambino Gesù e fargli dono - non senza un briciolo di riluttanza - dei loro giocattoli. Durante la funzione religiosa, l'attenzione dei piccoli e della loro accompagnatrice (presumibilmente la madre di uno dei tre, nonché la voce narrante) cade sul presepe e in special modo sull'assenza, nella scena della Natività, di animali selvatici. Perché mai, si chiedono i bambini, solo agli animali domestici è concesso portare doni a Gesù Bambino? Forse le altre creature non avevano niente da regalargli?
Colpita da questa osservazione, e lei stessa immersa in simili ragionamenti, la narratrice inizia così a raccontare ai suoi giovani ascoltatori la storia di una volpe che, tra lo sdegno generale, si reca all mangiatoia per onorare anch’ella il Bambino, insegnando a uomini ed animali il valore dei doni e il significato del dare.
Non conoscevo Pamela L. Travers, o per meglio dire ne avevo sentito parlare soltanto come autrice di Mary Poppins, la serie di libri da cui Walt Disney trasse, nei primi anni Sessanta, il suo celebre film. Questo racconto natalizio - o “favola di Natale”, come viene impropriamente definito nel sottotitolo dell'edizione Sellerio - è stata quindi la mia prima esperienza con la scrittrice; un'esperienza peraltro inaspettata, capitatami tra le mani quasi per caso in questi giorni di Feste e di letture a tema.
Ad attrarre la mia curiosità sono stati principalmente i riferimenti al presepe, una tradizione natalizia a me molto cara, che però fino a questo momento non mi era mai accaduto di incontrare in alcuna opera anglosassone.
Il racconto, lo ammetto, non è esattamente ciò che mi sarei aspettata, innanzitutto perché non si tratta di un vero e proprio racconto, bensì di una riflessione dell'autrice sulla rappresentazione della nascita di Gesù e sulla percezione che di essa hanno i bambini. Al centro della storia vi sono pertanto proprio le speculazioni surreali, ma non per questo prive di una sorprendente logica, dei più piccoli, e la loro innata tendenza a mischiare realtà e immaginazione, come la Travers non manca di evidenziare:
“Nel loro mondo Papà Natale non si distingue dai tre Re, perché tutto ciò che era è sempre vivo anche adesso. Duemila anni fa è ora, fatti e favole sono verità e nulla li separa.”
Sebbene le osservazioni e il messaggio del libro siano indubbiamente degni di nota, devo però confessare di avere avuto qualche difficoltà ad immedesimarmi nello spirito della storia, e questo probabilmente a causa della scrittura dell'autrice: elegante, fluida e sincera, ma ahimè fin troppo fredda e distaccata. Certo, ho apprezzato l'assenza di quella pattina di sentimentalismo un po' stucchevole che di solito associamo alla letteratura per l'infanzia, ma nel contempo, considerando anche il tema trattato, mi sarebbe piaciuto ritrovare nella prosa della Travers un pizzico di quel calore che generalmente ci si attende non tanto da un testo rivolto ai più piccoli (La volpe alla mangiatoia non lo è affatto!) ma quantomeno da una lettura natalizia.
Un altro aspetto che non mi è piaciuto è stata la scelta - discutibile, ma in parte comprensibile, nell'ottica di una parabola destinata a diventare il fulcro assoluto della narrazione - di spersonalizzare i tre bambini del racconto identificandoli banalmente con X, Y, Z piuttosto che attraverso dei nomi veri e propri.
Insomma, un testo stilisticamente apprezzabile ed interessante nei contenuti, ma sicuramente, almeno dal mio punto di vista, non annoverabile tra le imprescindibili letture di questo periodo.
April 22, 2020
For the first time since the war, the Christmas peal is ringing at St Paul's Cathedral. There is joy. There is new hope. It is Christmas Eve, the carol service has ended, and a woman with three small boys leaves the cathedral, the children swooping like pigeons. 'Why weren't there any wild animals at the crib? ..
https://archive.org/details/FoxAtTheM...
https://archive.org/details/FoxAtTheM...
November 29, 2020
4 1/2 stars.
The story is based on the wonderful Carol of the Friendly Beasts. I love thinking about how other animals gave gifts to the Savior at His birth.
My favorite parts were the narrator handling three little boys, named X, Y, and Z, at the childrens' Christmas Eve services. Anyone who has taken children to church, or any place that requires sitting somewhat still and quiet, can relate to X, Y, and Z's "innocent" contributions to the service.
The story is based on the wonderful Carol of the Friendly Beasts. I love thinking about how other animals gave gifts to the Savior at His birth.
My favorite parts were the narrator handling three little boys, named X, Y, and Z, at the childrens' Christmas Eve services. Anyone who has taken children to church, or any place that requires sitting somewhat still and quiet, can relate to X, Y, and Z's "innocent" contributions to the service.
November 15, 2015
It's Christmas Eve and a family are the carol service at St Paul's Cathedral. The three young boys are quite fidgety until their mother tells them the story of Jesus's birth from the perspective of the animals present, including a cunning fox.
The first thing that attracted me to The Fox At The Manger was the gorgeous cover. I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but I couldn't help it. I was also drawn in by the author, P L Travers, who wrote Mary Poppins and thought the book would make a lovely family festive read. My daughters (aged 6 and 12) and I read the book together in small chunks each evening and although it was a little wordy (and contained words even I hadn't heard of) we enjoyed it. I was quite surprised by how little of the fox we actually hear about - he didn't make an appearance until near the end - but I thought it was an enchanting tale of a post-war Christmas. My favourite part of the book was near the end as the family make their way home after the service and the children imagine what gifts different animals could bring to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
As the book is quite short at just 80 pages, this makes an ideal quick festive read to enjoy during the run-up to Christmas - perhaps even on Christmas Eve itself. It's probably more enjoyable for an adult to read rather than a child as a lot of the book centres on the mother's observations rather than the actual tale of the fox at the manger. Although not a great deal happens in the book, I did think it was a charming little read.
The first thing that attracted me to The Fox At The Manger was the gorgeous cover. I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but I couldn't help it. I was also drawn in by the author, P L Travers, who wrote Mary Poppins and thought the book would make a lovely family festive read. My daughters (aged 6 and 12) and I read the book together in small chunks each evening and although it was a little wordy (and contained words even I hadn't heard of) we enjoyed it. I was quite surprised by how little of the fox we actually hear about - he didn't make an appearance until near the end - but I thought it was an enchanting tale of a post-war Christmas. My favourite part of the book was near the end as the family make their way home after the service and the children imagine what gifts different animals could bring to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
As the book is quite short at just 80 pages, this makes an ideal quick festive read to enjoy during the run-up to Christmas - perhaps even on Christmas Eve itself. It's probably more enjoyable for an adult to read rather than a child as a lot of the book centres on the mother's observations rather than the actual tale of the fox at the manger. Although not a great deal happens in the book, I did think it was a charming little read.
May 5, 2014
This small novella by the author of the Mary Poppins books, is based on the Carol of the Friendly Beasts a Christmas Carol about the animals in the stable presenting gifts to the baby Jesus.
The heart of the story is when a wild fox wanders in to give his gift and farm animals all tell him how unworthy he is to give something to the son of man. But the baby has a very different opinion.
This Christmas fairy tale is framed with a story about a mother who takes her son and his friends to a children's service on Christmas eve.
The heart of the story is when a wild fox wanders in to give his gift and farm animals all tell him how unworthy he is to give something to the son of man. But the baby has a very different opinion.
This Christmas fairy tale is framed with a story about a mother who takes her son and his friends to a children's service on Christmas eve.
March 5, 2017
Beautiful reflective writing.
"This is the way the wheel turns, coming at last to full circle, with wild as well as tame at he crib; lion and turtle-dove together an barnyard beasts lying down with the fox. For wild and tame are but two hlaves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole.
And always, among the sleepers, there must be somebody waking - somewhere, someone, waking and watchful. Or what would happen to the world..?"
"This is the way the wheel turns, coming at last to full circle, with wild as well as tame at he crib; lion and turtle-dove together an barnyard beasts lying down with the fox. For wild and tame are but two hlaves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole.
And always, among the sleepers, there must be somebody waking - somewhere, someone, waking and watchful. Or what would happen to the world..?"
December 5, 2021
Great Christmas story, the best have read in a few years. Great metaphore about Christianism. It also touches on giving, on friendship. I like the part where the Child and the fox talks about the fate of Jesus. P. L. Travers is such an amazing writer, I almost read everything she wrote and The Fox at the Manger was great. It's not my favourite, but I would recommand it.
"It is not necessary to understand, said the Child, it is only necessary to let it be. Love and let it be."
"It is not necessary to understand, said the Child, it is only necessary to let it be. Love and let it be."
December 17, 2015
Less for children than one would expect. I picked this up, hoping that it would be a good read-aloud Christmas story for the kids. It wasn't, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good book. More meditative and dreamy, it is an interesting take on the Nativity scene.
December 25, 2024
Ogni natale leggo una storia natalizia: che originalità!
L'autrice di Mary Poppins diventa un po' troppo lirica per i miei gusti. Iniziamo con una messa cantata nella cattedrale di St. Paul e finiamo con dei bambini che si immaginano come gli animali selvatici abbiano celebrato la nascita di Gesù bambino. In particolare si racconta di una volpe che dialoga con la mucca (non il bue?!?) e l'asinello del presepe tradizionale per ottenere un posto accanto alla mangiatoia.
Immagino ci sia qualche morale protestante, ma non l'ho capita.
L'autrice di Mary Poppins diventa un po' troppo lirica per i miei gusti. Iniziamo con una messa cantata nella cattedrale di St. Paul e finiamo con dei bambini che si immaginano come gli animali selvatici abbiano celebrato la nascita di Gesù bambino. In particolare si racconta di una volpe che dialoga con la mucca (non il bue?!?) e l'asinello del presepe tradizionale per ottenere un posto accanto alla mangiatoia.
Immagino ci sia qualche morale protestante, ma non l'ho capita.
December 20, 2022
A beautiful book exquisitely written by P.L. Travers (the woman who wrote Mary Poppins).
February 21, 2020
This short little Christmas Fable was absolutely adorable. It will only take about 30 minutes to read, and I think you're really going to like it.
February 1, 2016
Deep truths guised through a simple Christmas nativity story, this is not intended as a young child's book. It discusses the concept of giving, what it means to be truly generous, and whether we give to others based on the labels they've assigned us or out of the depths of our hearts. A short and quick yet thought-provoking read.
December 14, 2016
Three children hear the story of the Nativity through the carol, The Friendly Beasts. One young imp asks if only the tame beasts offered gifts to the Christ child. This is the story of the fox's gift at the manger. Lovely.
April 25, 2020
This was a fine little book. It takes place during a Christmas concert and the drive home, and tells the tale of the gifts different animals, including a wild fox, give to the baby Jesus. It's a short book and could easily be read in 1 night, or 2-3 nights, depending on the age of the children it's being read by/to.
There were two sort of behind-the-scenes/callback moments that I appreciated:
1. In the Author's Note and at the end, Travers refers to "the land that lies east of the sun and west of the moon," saying that in that place, fairy tales may be true, "[f]or the facts of that world are the legends of ours." From reading Mary Poppins, She Wrote, I can hear Travers' interest in different philosophies and what might be called new-age in this era.
2. The narrator (Travers herself) tells the reader that one of the boys she's taking care of had "heard of the Bird Woman who used to sit on the steps [of St. Paul's cathedral], crying 'Feed the birds! Tuppence a bag!'" Now, to me, that's obviously a Mary Poppins callback, but I wasn't sure that Travers was the type of person to do a callback to Mary Poppins from *outside* the Mary Poppins universe, or that this wasn't a well-known story in London. I did some quick googling, and I still only found Mary Poppins as the link between a bird woman and the cathedral.
There were two sort of behind-the-scenes/callback moments that I appreciated:
1. In the Author's Note and at the end, Travers refers to "the land that lies east of the sun and west of the moon," saying that in that place, fairy tales may be true, "[f]or the facts of that world are the legends of ours." From reading Mary Poppins, She Wrote, I can hear Travers' interest in different philosophies and what might be called new-age in this era.
2. The narrator (Travers herself) tells the reader that one of the boys she's taking care of had "heard of the Bird Woman who used to sit on the steps [of St. Paul's cathedral], crying 'Feed the birds! Tuppence a bag!'" Now, to me, that's obviously a Mary Poppins callback, but I wasn't sure that Travers was the type of person to do a callback to Mary Poppins from *outside* the Mary Poppins universe, or that this wasn't a well-known story in London. I did some quick googling, and I still only found Mary Poppins as the link between a bird woman and the cathedral.
December 12, 2019
‘Tis no surprise that this was a delightful read, it was after all penned by P.L. Travers (Mary Poppins). That fact joined with the gist of the book - the Nativity, the birth of Jesus. But not the story we all know - this was the story of a fox who was also at the manger. Very clever and most enjoyable. Very easy quick read. Perfect to read every Christmas.
February 21, 2019
I am not sure what to say about this book. I wanted to really like it but wound up only just liking it, sort of. If the book had been all the mother and children I probably would have loved it. Those sections were fun and enjoyable. When the book gets into what the title say it will be about, the book just fell flat for me. I was bored with that whole section and couldn't wait to get back to the mother and kids.
August 1, 2019
Interesting but old fashioned
Interesting to see how her story telling developed. I don’t think it would hold children’s attention. You should read her other books about Mary Poppins.
Interesting to see how her story telling developed. I don’t think it would hold children’s attention. You should read her other books about Mary Poppins.
May 7, 2017
Loved it
December 9, 2018
Christmas is just around the corner, which means that now is the right time to revisit Pamela L. Travers’s Christmas fable “The Fox at the Manger”.
It’s Christmas Eve in postwar London. The narrator along with three young boys takes part in the carol service at St. Paul’s cathedral. The young boys have brought their old toys for the poor children. Only, when the time comes to part with their toys, the boys swiftly change their minds and run off remorselessly in the opposite direction. The narrator witnessing their selfish behaviour affirms that “A gift must come from the heart or nowhere”. But the meaning of the story of the fox at the manger expands beyond this aphorism about love.
Right from the start, the title of the story hints of its unusualness, as Pamela L. Travers’s friend and collaborator, Brian Sibley, accurately noted when he first discovered the book: “What a bizarre, almost blasphemous idea: the wild, rough, red-haired chicken-thief at the place where the mysterious drama of the Incarnation had been enacted.” * The idea is certainly provocative and the fox’s discourse throughout the story challenges our well accepted ideas about good and evil, love and service. I can assure you that Pamela L. Travers’s Christmas fable is definitely unlike any other Christmas story you have ever read or listened to. The story begins in a Christian religious context, but then quickly veers off and dives into the author’s inner world of esoteric beliefs, such as this poetical reference to the mysteries of time and space, to the Akashic records where all past, present and future human events, thoughts, emotions and intents are encoded in the non-physical etheric plane of existence:
“What had been here – some stately office? A bank? A merchant’s hall? And before that, what? I wondered. If it is true the print and form of things remain forever, as they say, invulnerable and invisible – surely these children were dancing now through forgotten board-meetings, and shades of accountants. lawyers, clerks. Or, if one went back further, through the flames of the Fire of London in 1666. Further still, the marble floor would be mud and marshland and all around us brontosaurs; and beyond that we would whirl in lava, turning fierily through the air, nothing but elements.
Contrariwise, would not the City lords to come, in rooms that would rise from this fern and rubble, start up in astonishment at the fancied sight of willow-herb breaking through the carpet? And old cashiers scratch their heads, wondering if they were out of their wits or whether they had really seen three little boys run through the cash desk? Are we here? Are we there? Is it now? Is it then? They will not know. And neither do we.”
When one of the boys asks the narrator “Why weren’t there any wild animals at the crib?” the narrator tells the story of the forgotten verse in the Carol of the Friendly Beasts, the one about the visit of the fox at the manger. The fox comes with a special gift for baby Jesus. The fox presents the Son of God with its cunning. The idea is subversive as it goes against the teachings of the Bible where the fox is portrayed rather negatively. But in Pamela L. Travers’s story, the fox appears in its positive aspect: wisdom and discernment. And at the end, wild and cunning and selfish as it may appear to be, the fox proves itself capable of the ultimate act of love, self-sacrifice. “‘It was not sudden, the fox said, coolly. ‘I was a long time coming to it and it was not easy.’”
Of course, when the fox arrives at the manger, it is not welcomed by the tamed animals, but their rejection does not deter it from its plans. In response to the common disapproval of its character the fox says:
“Reynard you called me, and that is my name. But if you use it to threaten me, ass, I bid you remember its meaning. It comes from Raginohardus, a name that means ‘strong in counsel.”
The farm animals see the fox from a narrow perspective. They see the selfish predator, the thief of chickens, but then the fox turns the tables around on them and confronts them with the idea that man is no different than the fox and that chickens are made to be stolen. The fox did not invent the laws of nature it simply lives by them. “I serve as man himself serves. I breath in, I breath out. What I take in from the air, the earth takes in from me. But what it is I serve, I do not know.” Does man really know? Nothing is less certain…
The dialogue between the farm animals and the fox also questions man’s place in Creation:
“You speak like a slave, said the fox, mildly. Man, man, always man! Is there no other living thing? What of the forests no man has seen- do they not still go on growing? Will the fire at the core of the earth go out because man cannot warm his hand on it?”
The fox also directs our attention to our all too human failure to see our life situations for what they are and the price we pay for not thinking for ourselves: “What would it profit me to run with the flock, shoulder to shoulder with woolly brother, when all it leads to is the basting dish.”
And as for the nature of the fox’s gift, well, it is ingeniously confounding, isn’t it? What use can Jesus have of cunning? I was dumbfounded by the fox’s gift, just as the farm animals in the story. Dumbfound and at the same time amused by Pamela L. Travers’s obstinate refusal to give explanations.
“But what will you do with such a gift? I am puzzled at these riddles. What is this cunning? There is something here I do not understand.” Pamela L. Travers’s answer to the questions of the ass is that it is not important to understand but to simply let it be. Although this is a wise advice, especially when confronted with unanswerable questions, in this particular case, I couldn’t let it be. Knowing a little (just a little) about Pamela L. Travers’s spiritual beliefs I was convinced that there was some hidden meaning to the fox’s gift, some allusion to something deeper. This was not an unanswerable question.
My doubts were confirmed.
“Pamela L. Travers’s spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff believed that in order to make progress in the world it is necessary to have the devil on one’s side.” and also that “St Paul speaks of the cross as a trick against the Devil whose own cunning failed to make him aware that by crucifying the Lord of Glory he was thus caught in a trap which would see his end. Jesus’s crucifixion releases the end time: the end time for the wicked angels who have governed mankind. The cross is then a kind of trick, an act of pre-ordained cunning, played on Satan.”**
Pamela L. Travers must have been aware of the ambiguities and subtleties of the issue, or why would she write: “ For wild and tame are but two halves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole.”
If you are interested in the story of “The Fox at the Manger” you could listen to Brian Sibley’s radio adaptation. Music is omnipresent throughout the dramatization and it beautifully enhances the emotional tonalities of the story. British actress Dame Wendy Hiller lends her voice to the narrator in the story, and I am almost certain that she must have prepared herself for the role by listening to interviews given by Pamela L. Travers (or maybe they even met), because the intonations of her voice are strikingly similar to the dramatic way of expression of Pamela L. Travers.
And one last comment, Pamela L. Travers had a somewhat analogous difficulty relinquishing the character of the fox in the hands of Brian Sibley as she did with her Mary Poppins and Disney, but of course with lesser intensity, the stakes were not the same. Only in this case the adaptation is loyal to the original creation.
“She, who didn’t bother with radios or television found it almost as difficult to entrust the ‘Fox at the Manger’ to me as the children in the story found it to relinquish their toys. ‘How is the child going to speak? How can you possibly give Him a voice? Why don’t you call the children X,Y and Z, as they are in the book? I don’t want them to be given names, you understand, but how will we know which one’s speaking? Does quite so much of the narrative have to go? Couldn’t someone just read the story? I’ve read it many times – in cathedrals too! Does it have to be a play…?*”
One must admire Pamela L. Travers’s constancy.
Happy Holidays!
_____________________________
* Excerpt from “A Good Gift, Thoughts on The Fox at the Manger” by Brian Sibley
** Tobias Churton, author of “Deconstructing Gurdjieff”
It’s Christmas Eve in postwar London. The narrator along with three young boys takes part in the carol service at St. Paul’s cathedral. The young boys have brought their old toys for the poor children. Only, when the time comes to part with their toys, the boys swiftly change their minds and run off remorselessly in the opposite direction. The narrator witnessing their selfish behaviour affirms that “A gift must come from the heart or nowhere”. But the meaning of the story of the fox at the manger expands beyond this aphorism about love.
Right from the start, the title of the story hints of its unusualness, as Pamela L. Travers’s friend and collaborator, Brian Sibley, accurately noted when he first discovered the book: “What a bizarre, almost blasphemous idea: the wild, rough, red-haired chicken-thief at the place where the mysterious drama of the Incarnation had been enacted.” * The idea is certainly provocative and the fox’s discourse throughout the story challenges our well accepted ideas about good and evil, love and service. I can assure you that Pamela L. Travers’s Christmas fable is definitely unlike any other Christmas story you have ever read or listened to. The story begins in a Christian religious context, but then quickly veers off and dives into the author’s inner world of esoteric beliefs, such as this poetical reference to the mysteries of time and space, to the Akashic records where all past, present and future human events, thoughts, emotions and intents are encoded in the non-physical etheric plane of existence:
“What had been here – some stately office? A bank? A merchant’s hall? And before that, what? I wondered. If it is true the print and form of things remain forever, as they say, invulnerable and invisible – surely these children were dancing now through forgotten board-meetings, and shades of accountants. lawyers, clerks. Or, if one went back further, through the flames of the Fire of London in 1666. Further still, the marble floor would be mud and marshland and all around us brontosaurs; and beyond that we would whirl in lava, turning fierily through the air, nothing but elements.
Contrariwise, would not the City lords to come, in rooms that would rise from this fern and rubble, start up in astonishment at the fancied sight of willow-herb breaking through the carpet? And old cashiers scratch their heads, wondering if they were out of their wits or whether they had really seen three little boys run through the cash desk? Are we here? Are we there? Is it now? Is it then? They will not know. And neither do we.”
When one of the boys asks the narrator “Why weren’t there any wild animals at the crib?” the narrator tells the story of the forgotten verse in the Carol of the Friendly Beasts, the one about the visit of the fox at the manger. The fox comes with a special gift for baby Jesus. The fox presents the Son of God with its cunning. The idea is subversive as it goes against the teachings of the Bible where the fox is portrayed rather negatively. But in Pamela L. Travers’s story, the fox appears in its positive aspect: wisdom and discernment. And at the end, wild and cunning and selfish as it may appear to be, the fox proves itself capable of the ultimate act of love, self-sacrifice. “‘It was not sudden, the fox said, coolly. ‘I was a long time coming to it and it was not easy.’”
Of course, when the fox arrives at the manger, it is not welcomed by the tamed animals, but their rejection does not deter it from its plans. In response to the common disapproval of its character the fox says:
“Reynard you called me, and that is my name. But if you use it to threaten me, ass, I bid you remember its meaning. It comes from Raginohardus, a name that means ‘strong in counsel.”
The farm animals see the fox from a narrow perspective. They see the selfish predator, the thief of chickens, but then the fox turns the tables around on them and confronts them with the idea that man is no different than the fox and that chickens are made to be stolen. The fox did not invent the laws of nature it simply lives by them. “I serve as man himself serves. I breath in, I breath out. What I take in from the air, the earth takes in from me. But what it is I serve, I do not know.” Does man really know? Nothing is less certain…
The dialogue between the farm animals and the fox also questions man’s place in Creation:
“You speak like a slave, said the fox, mildly. Man, man, always man! Is there no other living thing? What of the forests no man has seen- do they not still go on growing? Will the fire at the core of the earth go out because man cannot warm his hand on it?”
The fox also directs our attention to our all too human failure to see our life situations for what they are and the price we pay for not thinking for ourselves: “What would it profit me to run with the flock, shoulder to shoulder with woolly brother, when all it leads to is the basting dish.”
And as for the nature of the fox’s gift, well, it is ingeniously confounding, isn’t it? What use can Jesus have of cunning? I was dumbfounded by the fox’s gift, just as the farm animals in the story. Dumbfound and at the same time amused by Pamela L. Travers’s obstinate refusal to give explanations.
“But what will you do with such a gift? I am puzzled at these riddles. What is this cunning? There is something here I do not understand.” Pamela L. Travers’s answer to the questions of the ass is that it is not important to understand but to simply let it be. Although this is a wise advice, especially when confronted with unanswerable questions, in this particular case, I couldn’t let it be. Knowing a little (just a little) about Pamela L. Travers’s spiritual beliefs I was convinced that there was some hidden meaning to the fox’s gift, some allusion to something deeper. This was not an unanswerable question.
My doubts were confirmed.
“Pamela L. Travers’s spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff believed that in order to make progress in the world it is necessary to have the devil on one’s side.” and also that “St Paul speaks of the cross as a trick against the Devil whose own cunning failed to make him aware that by crucifying the Lord of Glory he was thus caught in a trap which would see his end. Jesus’s crucifixion releases the end time: the end time for the wicked angels who have governed mankind. The cross is then a kind of trick, an act of pre-ordained cunning, played on Satan.”**
Pamela L. Travers must have been aware of the ambiguities and subtleties of the issue, or why would she write: “ For wild and tame are but two halves and here, where all begins and ends, everything must be whole.”
If you are interested in the story of “The Fox at the Manger” you could listen to Brian Sibley’s radio adaptation. Music is omnipresent throughout the dramatization and it beautifully enhances the emotional tonalities of the story. British actress Dame Wendy Hiller lends her voice to the narrator in the story, and I am almost certain that she must have prepared herself for the role by listening to interviews given by Pamela L. Travers (or maybe they even met), because the intonations of her voice are strikingly similar to the dramatic way of expression of Pamela L. Travers.
And one last comment, Pamela L. Travers had a somewhat analogous difficulty relinquishing the character of the fox in the hands of Brian Sibley as she did with her Mary Poppins and Disney, but of course with lesser intensity, the stakes were not the same. Only in this case the adaptation is loyal to the original creation.
“She, who didn’t bother with radios or television found it almost as difficult to entrust the ‘Fox at the Manger’ to me as the children in the story found it to relinquish their toys. ‘How is the child going to speak? How can you possibly give Him a voice? Why don’t you call the children X,Y and Z, as they are in the book? I don’t want them to be given names, you understand, but how will we know which one’s speaking? Does quite so much of the narrative have to go? Couldn’t someone just read the story? I’ve read it many times – in cathedrals too! Does it have to be a play…?*”
One must admire Pamela L. Travers’s constancy.
Happy Holidays!
_____________________________
* Excerpt from “A Good Gift, Thoughts on The Fox at the Manger” by Brian Sibley
** Tobias Churton, author of “Deconstructing Gurdjieff”
March 28, 2026
A Christmas present that I started back in December when it was the proper season, and then put down and never finished until Passiontide 3 months later 😅
Very interesting book, the bulk of the story is a meditation on the animals that surround Christ's manger. The domesticated and peaceful animals are all there, but then a fox walks up. The farm animals are aghast at this thief of an animal dating to approach the Christ child, but he calmly responds to all their disgruntles.
I've just finished reading Job, and I am noticing a lot of parallels between the fox and the Whirlwind speech at the end. Fabulous short read, I will be coming back to it many times. PL Travers is definitely an underrated author, I would place her very close to Lewis in terms of ability to write compelling fantasy/faërie stories with good Christian themes.
Very interesting book, the bulk of the story is a meditation on the animals that surround Christ's manger. The domesticated and peaceful animals are all there, but then a fox walks up. The farm animals are aghast at this thief of an animal dating to approach the Christ child, but he calmly responds to all their disgruntles.
I've just finished reading Job, and I am noticing a lot of parallels between the fox and the Whirlwind speech at the end. Fabulous short read, I will be coming back to it many times. PL Travers is definitely an underrated author, I would place her very close to Lewis in terms of ability to write compelling fantasy/faërie stories with good Christian themes.
December 18, 2021
First experienced as a read aloud among family (adults). I am hopeful a child may enjoy this book, but decline in reading among younger generations leads me to think it may be missed by most. A challenge to the current vernacular of many teens.
What a special little story from P. L
Travers that already, as an adult, seems attractive to revisit many times over.
Travers cleverly ties in a number of intriguing themes and characters that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The character whom narrates this story writes as one that can capture believable childlikeness due to seasoned observation and attentiveness of an astute grown up.
What a special little story from P. L
Travers that already, as an adult, seems attractive to revisit many times over.
Travers cleverly ties in a number of intriguing themes and characters that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The character whom narrates this story writes as one that can capture believable childlikeness due to seasoned observation and attentiveness of an astute grown up.
April 7, 2024
“The fox has given me all he had. Without his cunning, how will he find good or escape the snare? How will he live now alone in the woods”?
The Fox and the Manger is a short story written by PL Travers, the Australian-born British Author. The animals come to the stable of baby Jesus, and each give them their gift. When the Fox appears, you can imagine their sceptical reaction. But the Fox gives a gift which none expected.
It makes me wonder about how PL Travers, an acolyte of Gurdjieff, felt about Christianity, and how it determined how she approached the nativity. But then again, she was a woman who felt the most timeless and essential author was simply signed as ‘anonymous’.
The Fox and the Manger is a short story written by PL Travers, the Australian-born British Author. The animals come to the stable of baby Jesus, and each give them their gift. When the Fox appears, you can imagine their sceptical reaction. But the Fox gives a gift which none expected.
It makes me wonder about how PL Travers, an acolyte of Gurdjieff, felt about Christianity, and how it determined how she approached the nativity. But then again, she was a woman who felt the most timeless and essential author was simply signed as ‘anonymous’.
November 30, 2018
2.5 stars
I picked this up from the children's section in my local library because of the title (I love foxes) and the beautiful Christmassy cover. I was further excited when I noticed that author is the same person who wrote Mary Poppins.
Some parts of this were insightful and I loved the idea of wild animals being involved in giving gifts, not just the farm animals. I did, however, feel that the ending was rather abrupt and the language may prove to be an obstacle to many children picking this up.
The illustrations match perfectly!
I picked this up from the children's section in my local library because of the title (I love foxes) and the beautiful Christmassy cover. I was further excited when I noticed that author is the same person who wrote Mary Poppins.
Some parts of this were insightful and I loved the idea of wild animals being involved in giving gifts, not just the farm animals. I did, however, feel that the ending was rather abrupt and the language may prove to be an obstacle to many children picking this up.
The illustrations match perfectly!
December 23, 2018
A thoughtful story about a fox and the gift he gives the Christ child.
Each barnyard animal has his gift to give the Christ child. But when the fox arrives, he is not welcomed. His gift? His cunning which the Christ child says is a good gift because the fox has given all (much like the widow's mite.)
A great story to remind us to examine our gifts at Christmas, especially those we give Jesus Christ.
Each barnyard animal has his gift to give the Christ child. But when the fox arrives, he is not welcomed. His gift? His cunning which the Christ child says is a good gift because the fox has given all (much like the widow's mite.)
A great story to remind us to examine our gifts at Christmas, especially those we give Jesus Christ.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2025
Published in 1963, this sweet story of post-war children attending a Christmas service and learning about true gifts is everything that a Christmas story should be. After the service, the narrator tells the children a story of the manger starring a fox in a very Little Drummer Boy fashion. I loved the message, I loved the setting, and I loved the illustrations. Just a beautiful children's book, but great for anyone.
December 28, 2021
First I had a problem with some of the colloquialisms seeing how I am an American. I also was bothered by the fact that all these donations for the poor we’re really junk. Dolls missing limbs, stuffed animals dirty with but nice missing. Sorry but it doesn’t seem very charitable to me.
“Did any of them, I wondered, regret the noble deed? Or there’s some who felt that virtue might be bought it to higher price?”
Otherwise I loved the story.
“Did any of them, I wondered, regret the noble deed? Or there’s some who felt that virtue might be bought it to higher price?”
Otherwise I loved the story.
February 21, 2020
This story could've really used the hands of a good editor.
It was a mishmash of sentimentality, religiosity, and just long-windedness.
I think I should've tried one of Ms. Travers' better known stories instead.
It was a mishmash of sentimentality, religiosity, and just long-windedness.
I think I should've tried one of Ms. Travers' better known stories instead.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews