On December 24, 1818, young Hans and Maria hurry through the winter streets of Oberndorf, Austria, to join other villagers in assembling the Christmas crèche in the Church of St. Nicola. On this night Father Josef Mohr was to ask organist Frans Gruber to compose music for verses he wrote earlier that day. On this night - according to tradition - the carol "Stille Nacht" was first sung because the organ was broken. An unusual book about the familiar hymn provides several levels of information about the history of "Silent Night." The gold and black visual elements on every page are reproductions of the Hofer's scherenschnitte or scissor-cut silhouette pictures of the assemblage of the crèche ; scherenschnitte is explained later as an art developed centuries earlier in China. The last page contains two verses of "Silent Night" in English and in German. (Age 7-adult)

As amazing as it seems, one of the world’s best-loved Christmas carols may have been written because of ravenous mice! Right before Christmas, 1818, in a church in the small town of Oberndorf, Austria, the mice were so hungry they chewed a hole in the church organ’s leather bellows. To provide his parishioners with music on the holiest of nights, the priest jotted down the words for a Christmas song, and he asked the church organist to write a melody for two solo voices and a guitar. That evening “Stille Nacht,” known as “The Song from Heaven,” was born.

Silent Night: The Song from Heaven presents the story of the carol, accompanied by beautiful and intricate gold scherenschnitte (cut paper art) illustrations. Today, “Silent Night,” the gentle anthem born of necessity, is sung around the world in nearly one hundred languages – thanks to a few hungry mice!