On
a cold, clear Newfoundland night shortly after
Christmas, several outlandishly costumed mummers
appear and Granny's house suddenly erupts in a
burst of joking and tomfoolery, raucous singing
and exuberant dancing. Granny and her two young
charges are instantly caught up in the merriment.
When the evening's festivities come to a close,
the mummers are bid a fond farewell until next
year.
Popular singer Bud Davidge
wrote "The Mummer's Song" as a tribute
to a centuries-old custom in danger of
disappearing.
Since its publication in
1973, it has fostered a revival of mummering. The
richly detailed illustrations in this picture-book
adaptation are by the award-winning artist Ian
Wallace.
Bud Davidge is a popular
singer-songwriter from Newfoundland. He has
recorded many albums for children and young
adults, including a musical accompaniment to The
Mummer's Song.
lan Wallace is a highly
accomplished illustrator with many successful
books to his credit including Chin Chiang and the
Dragon's Dance, Saran and the People of Sand
River, Boy of the Deeps, Very Last First Time.
Duncan's Way and The True Story of Trapper Jack's
Left Big Toe. He has won the Mr. Christie's Book
Award, the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award and
the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award,
and he was the Canadian nominee for the
prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.
