The First Christmas An ABC Book

Much to my kids' chagrin, I can walk through the toy department of Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us or even the fancy "educational" toy store without even being tempted to spend money. Book stores, or book order forms from school however, are another story. My little one is in Catholic school so besides the usual Scholastic forms, she also brings home one for religious stuff, and from it I ordered this jewel.

The First Christmas: An ABC Book (Baby Blessings) is a charming rendition of the story from Luke's Gospel. It is told in a series of 10 two-page spreads. Across the top of the pages are the letters of the alphabet, along with the words used for the letters. The text of the story is across the bottom of the pages. For example, the first spread shows the angel appearing to Mary. There is a cartoon type bubble showing Mary thinking about a baby, and another showing the angel thinking of the grown man. Across the top are: Aa angel, Bb baby, Cc Christ. The text across the bottom says "The angel said to Mary 'Fear not! You will have a baby. And you will call the baby Jesus.' This baby would be Jesus the Christ, the Son of God." In general, words are picked which begin with the letter; however the author, Laura Derico, used exceeding for x and joy for y. For z, she used zzzz, like sleeping (in heavenly peace, of course).

If you are looking for a Christmas book that really talks about Christmas, this would be a wonderful addition to your library (and I didn't get a free book to say that). You can buy it from Amazon:The First Christmas: An ABC Book (Baby Blessings). The age range given on the book is 3-7 and I'd say that's about right, though 7 might be a little old.