From a Distance

Julie Gold's Grammy-winning song "From a Distance" carries a message of hope in a troubled world that touches a universal chord. It has been performed and recorded by many top artists, including Nanci Griffith, Bette Midler, and the Byrds, and has been translated into several different languages. Now acclaimed illustrator Jane Ray interprets this inspirational folk hymn with dazzling brilliance and keen sensitivity.

Through intricate watercolors, the illustrator constructs a story in which discord and disunity are counterbalanced by a promise of peace and harmony. Her lush, distinctive folk-art style is ideally suited to the spare poetic text that explores the space between the world as it should be--the untarnished creation--and the world as it is--a place where war and injustice often prevail. The lavish illustrations paint an ultimately joyous and life-affirming vision. The result is a book as moving and uplifting as the song itself.

With subject matter both timely and timeless--the expression of hope in a troubled world--and illustrations universal and yet evocative of the recent ethnic wars in Eastern Europe, this beautiful book will be cherished by people everywhere, young and old.