Overall, I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping to introduce the story of Christmas to my 2.5-year-old son, but this book does not mention Christmas at all. There is no tie-in. Yes, it is the story of Jesus' birth, but I was hoping for something to tie in the holiday. You know, something about "and that's why we celebrate Christmas" or "And that's why we give Christmas presents." Really, it misses the point.
Despite all of that, my son does love the book because of the pictures. The quality of the book and the pages is great. Shiny, colorful, thick cardboard and a nice size. It's just the words that are terrible. Basically, I tell the story in my own words and forget what the author says. Yes, we parents do this a lot for books, but I was hoping the author could have done a better job herself. Let me give you some examples:
Excerpt from the book: "But that night an angel came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said that wicked King Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus."
Yes, you read it correctly. The author of a children's book thinks it's appropriate to talk about killing a baby! In the Christmas story. I don't know about you, but my son is now afraid of foxes because there was ONE mention of a fox in the book "Owl Babies." So I don't think I'm going to bring killing babies into his little world just yet.
Next excerpt, which is the following page and the end of the book: "So Mary and Joseph took their baby and went secretly to Egypt. When it was safe, they returned to the tiny town of Nazareth. There Jesus grew up to be a good, kind boy." THE END. Like I said, I think they missed the point. Merry Christmas, everyone!