The First Christmas

ISBN 0694004235 - I'm on a roll with some of my favorite kinds of books - childrens' Christmas board books. Reading a bunch of them back-to-back makes me a little for critical of them than I might be otherwise. This one has more going for it than against it. The story of the birth of Jesus is told in a very simple way. Facing pages go together; on the left is text that says, for example, "This is the inn where Mary and Joseph could find no room." On the right is an image that matches that text. The story begins by introducing Mary and ends, of course, with a baby in a manger. I'm torn, really, on this one. A good portion of any book for children should be the illustrations and these, by Marc Simont, are pretty awful. They are basic to the point of bland and far too simple to attract most children's attention. The text, however, makes up for that lack and is the only reason I recommend the book at all. Author Robbie Trent did a great job of telling this story in the simplest way possible, without "talking down" to kids. Christian parents will find that this straight-forward, simple story is a nice foundation that doesn't overwhelm little ones with too much at once, but covers all the most important basics. Non-Christian parents won't find their Christmas in here, of course. Sturdy board book pages will stand up to the rough handling of a toddler and the size is good for their small hands. - AnnaLovesBooks