The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Steadfast Tin Solider was my favorite holiday book growing up, so it was a treat to review this book as an adult. The illustrations, colored pencils on charcoal paper, are richly textured and an excellent counterpoint to the plain-spoken text. The illustrations convey the action of story, but also the “steadfastness” and the stillness of the soldier and the ballerina. This retold story always touches me, because the soldier’s and ballerina’s fate seems to be inevitable, but they don’t seem to question their fate, they just want to be together. In any other story, this could seem fatalistic, but in this case, it seems to represent enduring love, which is what Christmas is all about.