Title: The Gift of Christmas – The boy who blessed the world
By: Mary Joslin and Kristina Swarner
Price: £7.78
Published by: Lion
Good for: children age 5-10 years
Best bit: Lovely, whimsical artwork and a re-telling of the story which is very close to the Bible version told in Luke and Matthew. It also has a picture of Jesus as an adult on the last page, which I like as it points to His life work.
Worst bit: I’m always a bit sad when there’s a stable mentioned, as the Bible text doesn’t mention it, but it’s what most Christmas stories have in them.
More thoughts:
The artwork in this picture storybook is quite delightful, with loads of texture and almost the feel of a lino print.
The story retelling is good, with the text very close to the Bible, meaning not much is added and it wouldn’t be a big jump for a child to move from here to reading or having it read to them from the Bible itself. I like how the angels are portrayed, especially one who has rainbow hair (!) and the wise men seem to visit Mary in a house with a toddler Jesus on her knee, which makes more sense than the traditional wise men visiting on the night He was born. Good quality printing makes this a lovely book to buy for your family or a gift for others.
Here’s what it looks and reads like inside:
