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One Wise Sheep: An Untraditional Christmas Story by Ulrich Hub

Title: One Wise Sheep: An Untraditional Christmas Story

Author: Ulrich Hub

Translator: Helena Kirkby

Illustrator: Jorg Muhle

Publisher: Gecko Press

Date Published: 2024

Format: Paperback

Genre:

Book Category: Fiction

Age Range: 6-8

Original Title: First published in German as Das letzte Schaf, Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, 2018

Country of Origin: Germany

One Wise Sheep: An Untraditional Christmas Story

by Ulrich Hub
Age Range: 6-8

One Wise Sheep is an untraditional Christmas Story. The sheep are unable to sleep. The pasture is floodlit by a strange new star and their shepherds have disappeared. Afraid they have been abandoned, or worse still, their shepherds have been abducted by a UFO, the sheep begin to panic. A goat nearby tells them everyone’s talking about a child rumoured to have been born in a stable and that’s where the shepherds have most probably gone. “Today is a great feast day. And tomorrow will be a feast day too.” says the goat in an important voice. The sheep decide to go too but many pitfalls befall this unruly flock as they set off on their first ever night hike!

This is German author and illustrator Ulrich Hub and Jörg Mühle’s second collaboration after the successful Duck’s Backyard and it’s a delightful tongue-in-cheek take on the Christmas story. Told from the sheep’s point of view, each sheep character is clearly defined, from the sheep with the bobble hat, who tells the others he saw a glowing apparition floating down with a host of angels singing praises, to the sheep with the snuffly nose, the sheep with the retainer, the sheep with the side part, the sheep with the cast, the sheep with the eye patch and finally the last sheep.

The droll humour is deftly done and at times hilarious. The sheep make assumptions believing the baby to be a girl “Girls are much smarter than boys!.” lisps the sheep with the snuffle. After the last sheep climbs a high boulder, he finds himself encircled by two big black wolves wearing mirrored glasses. When the rest of the flock comes to his rescue, they tell him “The baby is a sensation! It’s said to perform miracles. It can read thoughts, turn water into raspberry juice, and even bend a fork – just by looking at it.”

Along the way, the sheep meet other animals who can tell them something about this miraculous event. The sheep with the eye patch meets an Ox who is eating something strange. When asked what it is he tells the sheep it’s some sort of packing material “What choice do I have? I can’t get anywhere near my manager. There’s a baby asleep on the hay.” Or the donkey who tells the sheep that “a couple of guys on camels just turned up in strangely shaped hats, bringing all kinds of gifts from the East. Gold, frankincense and marjoram.” By the time the sheep finally arrive at the stable, they find the ticket booth closed and everyone has gone – the sheep are too late. When the sheep despair that they have missed everything two camels tell them there was a “ghastly brass brand and inferior red wine – warm as well.”

Helena Kirkby has produced an excellent translation that captures the humour and nuances so well. Mühle’s artwork has a cartoon-like quality in pen and ink and colour wash which results in giving the sheep and other animals, real characters full of expression enhanced by lovely humorous touches which complement Hub’s text.

This is a book you don’t want to miss. Young readers are going to love it, (and a lot of adults too!)