I'm swinging back into Christmas mode with today's read and taking a more traditional dive. This book should deliver the Christmas story in a way, which snuggles up to the original description found in the Bible. I'm excited to see how the author tackles this and am curious about the illustrations, since other reviews give them quite the praise.
Let's snuggle down with a tea and see how this book handles it!
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
The Bible's Nativity Story
by N.T. Wright
Illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia
Tommy Nelson
Picture Book / Holiday / Religious
32 pages
ages 4 to 8
Keep Jesus in the center of your family’s Christmas and Advent celebrations with this beautiful nativity storybook from N.T. Wright, one of the world’s most loved and trusted Bible scholars.
With the big-picture approach that readers worldwide have learned to trust, N.T. Wright weaves together the biblical accounts of Jesus’ birth into a thoughtful, hope-filled telling of the first Christmas, from Gabriel’s announcement to the family’s return from Egypt.
The First Christmas features:
a faithful telling of the nativity story
gorgeous painted art from award-winning illustrator Helena Perez Garcia
a resource page showing how Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in baby Jesus’ coming
a deluxe book with a presentation page
A beautiful keepsake gift for children and adults alike, The First Christmas celebrates Christ’s birth with authenticity, beauty, and joy.
MY TIDBITS
With care, this book introduces the Christmas story to young listeners.
Starting with the angel's visit to Mary to announce her pregnancy, these pages tell about the birth of Christ. The author sticks close to the Bible and lets the story come across with the same feel and style. Still, the author makes sure to word it just right for younger listeners to understand and enjoy. While the text tells the story, the illustrations let it come to life visually. These also carry enough of a traditional feel to match with the text style, while also adding a lovely, artistic touch. Young listeners can pick this up on their own and follow the story visually. Or those readers, who have a pretty good grip on their words, can go through the tale on their own.
At the end, there are several Bible verses, which give a quick glance at a few prophecies concerning Jesus' birth from the Old Testament. This works especially nice for older readers and adults, since it demonstrates how Jesus' birth was a fulfillment of the promise from the Old Testament.
In other words, this is a lovely read for anyone looking for a book, which concentrates on the Christmas story as loved from the Bible.
And here they are...
N. T. Wright is the former bishop of Durham and senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He is one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and the award-winning author of many books, including After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, Interpreting Paul, and The New Testament in Its World, as well as the Christian Origins and the Question of God series.
Helena Perez Garcia is a Spanish illustrator whose work has appeared across magazines, newspapers, packaging, and books for children and adults.
Her illustrations are conceptual, whimsical, and rich in detail and color. Helena’s primary medium is gouache, and her main sources of inspiration are art, literature, and cinema.
After completing a Fine Arts Degree in Spain, Helena relocated to London in 2012, where she lived and worked for six years. During this period and driven by the artistic history and cultural influences of the city and the country, Helena developed her characteristic style. She returned to Spain in 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment