Every year I read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." it is the best Christmas book out there. And, yes I've read "A Christmas Carol" but this book is better. This book is amazing. It's by Barbara Robinson and will make you and laugh and cry. I think they made a movie of it but it can't be as good as the book because the book is told from the point of view of a child and you would miss out on so much without seeing into her thoughts.
We've all heard the Christmas story so many times yet this book sort of lets you see it for the first time. If you had never heard the story of Christmas what would you think? This story lets you see and feel that.
"What happened first?" Imogene hollered at my mother. "Begin at the beginning!"
That really scared me because the beginning would be the Book of Genesis where it says "In the beginning..." and if we were going to have to start with the Book of Genesis we'd never get through.
I think that's funny and clever and there's tons more like that.
And this was the funny thing about it all. For years, I'd thought about the wonder of Christmas, and the mystery of Jesus' birth, and never really understood it. But now, because of the Herdmans it didn't seem so mysterious after all.
When Imogene had asked me what the pageant was about, I told her it was about Jesus, but that was just part of it. It was about a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble--no money, no place to go no doctor, nobody they knew. And then, arriving from the east (like my uncle from New Jersey) some rich friends.
But Imogene, I guess, didn't see it that way. Christmas just came over her all at once like a case of chills and fever. And so she was crying...
And that is the part where I really start crying every year. This book is good and short. I can't wait until the boys are old enough for me to read it to them. Until then, however, I'm going to read it myself. It's such a good way to see the Christmas story in a fresh way. It's a super quick read I think you should give it a chance.
So that's my personal tradition, strange as it might be. What are yours? What are some things that make the holiday special just for you?
2 comments:
We have a few, The Marshall Christmas Parade has been one since I was a little girl, & now making John's Grandma's Christmas cookies has become a new one for us in the last two years. I love making the cookies and remembering her and what an amazing woman she was. I'm sure I have more but those are the two big ones that stick out in my head.
Have you not read "The Bird's Christmas Carol"? I think that's my all time favorite.- Holly B.
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