On This Special Night

by Claire Freedman, Simon Mendez (Illustrator)

On a silent winter's night, one star burns brighter than all the rest. "That must be a special star," Mother Cat whispers. When Little Kitten and Mother Cat join the animals journeying toward the starry light, they discover that it is a special star indeed -- shining with peace, love, and joy on this very special night.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

24 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2008

About the author

I’ve been a writer for over 15 years now, but it wasn’t planned!

I had a variety of jobs, including secretary, trainee buyer at Harrods, dental nurse, production assistant in a reprographic and printing company and various others.

I began to write after joining a creative writing class. I had no success with article writing, or short stories, or fiction, but the first children’s story I wrote, for a magazine called Twinkle, was accepted for publication. Hooray!!!

Things snowballed and a lot (yes lots and lots) of hard work later I now write full time and have over 50 books published. I still go to the same writing class and we have become a big happy family of writers!

For me, writing is the best job ever. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I love to create worlds for young children to enjoy and escape into – whether the stories are educational, bedtime, problem solving or just plain good fun. It’s also very exciting to see the first picture roughs, as my wonderful, talented illustrators bring the text to life.

I live on the Essex coast in a lovely two-bed-roomed flat, which I share with my husband, Michael. At long last I have an office to write in, with room for all my books and bits of scribbled on papers.

The seafront is (still) just around the corner, and I find a bracing walk (it gets freezing when the East wind blows from the North Sea!) or gentle stroll when the weather is warmer, is great for clearing my head and mulling over story ideas.

- excerpted from her website

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: It was a silent winter's night. Little Kitten was snuggled up in the old wooden barn. Outside frosty trees glistened in the shadowy twilight. High above, the heavens sparkled, watching, waiting... "Cuddle up closer," Mother Cat said. "Try and go to sleep." "But the stars are so bright tonight," cried Little Kitten. One star was bigger than the rest. Blazing with a brilliant light, it seemed to fill the heavens. "That must be a special star," Mother Cat whispered.

Premise/plot: Little Kitten is VERY curious one winter night. What is all the commotion about? Why are all the animals so excited about something? This picture book retells the story of the first Christmas from the perspective of a barn cat.

My thoughts: I liked it. I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the illustrations. The story is okay.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire is good with toddler books and beautiful animal stories. This is the story of the first Christmas from the barn animal's perspective.

[Matina Politi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ελληνικός τίτλος: «Μια νύχτα ξεχωριστή» από τις εκδόσεις «κόκκινη κλωστή δεμένη». Πλούσιο λεξιλόγιο. Με απλές έννοιες δίνεται η σημασία και το νόημα του Ιησού Χριστού. Έντονη εικονογράφηση που νομίζεις ότι οι φωτογραφίες θα ζωντανέψουν.

[Alison Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a simple and sweet take on the story of Jesus' birth - but the illustrations really set it apart. Extremely realistic and soothing, my daughter looked through the pages again and again.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

2011 Family Christmas Book

This is a cute book about a special night told by the animals. My kids like it!

[N C · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are so beautiful... definitely a 5 star rating for the illustrations. Lovely story.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book about the first Christmas. It is told from the perspective of a young kitten and his mother who are visited by animals following a star - a star that is burning brighter than any others. Soon mother and kitten are following also, and they discover a baby in a manger surrounded by animals with the bright star shining down upon him. A unique telling of a story most of us are familiar with. It is a great story excellently illustrated.

[Lesley Dahlseng · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no way that Little Kitten could fall asleep with the unusually bright star lighting up the stable. "Do you know why that star is so bright tonight?" Little Kitten asks Lamb, who is one of several unexpected passersby following the star. None stick around long enough to offer Kitten an explanation and curiosity drives him and Mother Cat to see for themselves.

What I Like: The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. Sweetly told with a nice balance of descriptive text and dialogue for little readers. Since my children are familiar with the Christmas story, the lack of details made the story seem less redundant.

Downside: For those desiring a more detailed version of the Christmas story, this book would be a disappointment. Other than a bright star and three camels in the distance, there is no groundwork laid for introducing Jesus - who (at worst) is later referenced with the pronoun "It" and (at best) is said to be a "special baby".

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very suspenseful! It had me asking where are all these animals going and coming from? I really like this book for a predicting or inference strategy. When I looked at the book I immediately thought of Jesus’ birth because of the pictures and the title, but the great thing about that is it never mentions anything about that. You have to infer it from the text and pictures! The one thing that I am critical of about the book is that it shows the three wise men coming to visit Jesus in a stable which is not true. However, I think it would be an excellent book to use to point out to children how to be careful and aware of what they read. In this case they could use the Bible to back up the fact that Jesus was no longer in the stable at the point of the wise men’s visits.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

On This Special Night is a good way to introduce the real meaning of Christmas to very young children. The book tells the nativity story from the perspective of the animals that witnessed the birth of Christ. They mention the star shining so brightly that they couldn’t sleep that night. Then, a special child born and others coming to share in the joy of the birth. 

The pictures in this book are wonderful. Even without a word on the page, these cute lifelike creatures would draw and keep the attention of little ones. A few times, I had troubles turning to the next page because we weren’t done with the mice yet. 

[Youth Services · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book that is about the birth of Jesus that really only shows the characters on the periphery -- the animals in the barn. The animals are following the bright star to see where it leads -- all they know is that it's a special night. The story hinges on a mother cat and her kitten, and eventually the follow the bright star, too -- all to see a very special person. A nice spin on the traditional Christmas story!

Lisle Library Call #: E FRE (Christmas)

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Browsing books to give my friends' children as gifts since I won't gift anything I haven't first read myself.

Yet another "animals talk on Christmas Eve" book that underwhelmed me. The illustrations are soft and appealing, but the story itself fell short like so many of the others. The more of them I investigate, the more I believe I will be sticking with the book I recall from my own childhood for this particular theme. Sometimes you just can't beat the original.

[Winta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little kitten and her mom are kind to the animals who come over asking for some food and a place to stay warm, but they wonder why the stars are so bright and where the animals are going. They follow the animals to a barn, and see a baby is born. They realize that it's a very special night…

[Brenda Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful christmas story

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated story about the animals who came to pay reverence to the baby Jesus, told from the perspective of a momma cat and kitten.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful, holy book about the nativity, which doesn't mention Jesus or Mary of Joseph.

this one is special

[Melissa Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book about the first Christmas from animals perspective.

[Robandsuzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this one makes me cry.