Hannah at the Manger: A Story

A young girl of Bethlehem meets some strangers in need of shelter, and with the help of her friend, a beggar, guides them to a kind innkeeper. She sees them again after following her father in the night with the other shepherds to see a baby that the angels told them about. Could this be the Messiah? She gives the baby a beautiful cloth that had been placed in her basket earlier that day while she was begging with her friend. The illustrations are gentle and colorful. The story gives a picture of life in Bethlehem with poverty, uncertainty, and Roman occupation, biblical themes often missing in children's Christmas books.