Amazing Peace

In this beautiful, deeply moving poem, now beautifully narrated in this Read & Listen edition, Maya Angelou inspires us to embrace the peace and promise of Christmas so that hope and love can once again light up our holidays and the world. “Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers, look heavenward,” she writes, “and speak the word aloud. Peace.”

Narrated by the poet at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House on December 1, 2005, Maya Angelou’s celebration of the “Glad Season” is a radiant affirmation of the goodness of life and a beautiful holiday gift for people of all faiths.

Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, she wrote numerous volumes of poetry, among them Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, On the Pulse of Morning, and Mother. Maya Angelou died in 2014.

Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson have worked as a creative team for over 26 years, producing illustrations for annual reports, brochures, posters, movies, advertisements, book covers, and magazines. Together they have illustrated over 50 children’s books, including Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days, Garrison Keillor's Cat, You Better Come Home, and Jon Scieszka's The Frog Prince, Continued. Their 2000 release, I Walk At Night, was recognized as one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Books. They are the recipients of a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators and have been recognized by Communication Arts, Print, and Graphis. They live in Moraga, California.