The Gift of the Magi
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About the Author

William Sydney Porter--later to be known as O. Henry--was born in North Carolina in 1862. Known for his surprise endings and ability to capture the hope and pathos of ordinary people, Henry is best remembered for his stories about New York City. The Gift of the Magi was written in 1906, four years before his death.

Lisbeth Zwerger has been accorded nearly every prize that can be given, including the highest international award for lifetime achievement, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. Since 1981 she has devoted her extraordinary talents to children's literature, to stories as charming and picturesque as her native Vienna. Always surprising, always engaging, her artwork combines technical mastery with an insight and gentleness so rare and captivating that she has been correctly called one of the finest illustrators of the twentieth century.

Reviews

"...as sentimental as Christmas." -- Publishers Weekly

"[B]eautifully wrought illustrations, delicate, uncluttered, and splendidly composed." -- New York Times Book Review

"Lisbeth Zwerger's biting line and soft, evocative palette illuminate the characters with an aura of gaslit nobility, and burnish an antique until it shines." -- Time

O. Henry's classic tale of Della and Jim, the struggling newlyweds so anxious to give each other a Christmas gift that each sells the one thing the other holds most dear, receives an oddly lifeless treatment here. Heyer's meticulously detailed illustrations are pretty but stilted; the characters look like mannequins. The rueful Jim fares better than poor prematurely middle-aged Della, who at times looks more like his mother than his wife. Still, the story is as touching as ever, and neither time nor mediocre artwork can dim its glory. All ages. (Sept.)

"...as sentimental as Christmas."

-- Publishers Weekly
"[B]eautifully wrought illustrations, delicate, uncluttered, and splendidly composed."

-- New York Times Book Review
"Lisbeth Zwerger's biting line and soft, evocative palette illuminate the characters with an aura of gaslit nobility, and burnish an antique until it shines."

-- Time

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