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Title: Big disappointment
Review: Unlike the other review, I did not find the similarities with The Big Red Barn to be laudable. It isn't that the style is similar to her other book - that would be fine. No, she practically lifts entire lines from The Big Red Barn. The result is an uneven lyrical quality, like she's trying to tell the story of Christmas but forces in little winks and nods to her other book. Also, it doesn't work that the illustrations clearly show a modern setting (at least a 20th century one), but she keeps referring to an "ancient barn." It renders the story historically inaccurate for a telling to children, which is a disappointment. I don't know how anyone possibly thought that modernizing the setting could do anything but serve as a detraction to the quality of this book, and risk insulting the religious sensibilities of some.
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