The Story of Christmas

by Gwen Ellis

Based on the "International Children's Bible," this edition begins with the birth of John the Baptist and concludes with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus heading home to Nazareth. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400314682
• ISBN13: 9781400314683
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Length: 24 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.3" x 10.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Great Christmas Book

The Story of Christmas by Gwen Ellis is a great book for young kids. I received my copy of the book and had to wait until the kids were asleep in order to read it( that is because I could not get it away for them) The next day they woke up and want to watch the DVD which is very cute and they loved it. The Story of Christmas is a great way to start off the Christmas season. This book will help to teach my kids the importance of Jesus and how He is the reason we celebrate the holiday. I highly recommend this book to all weather you have kids or not this book take the simple mean of Christmas and help you remember that it is about Jesus not all the other things that go on with Christmas. Also this book would make a great Christmas gift to all those you know. Thanks to Thomas Nelson Book Review for my Free copy of this book.

A Pleasing Way to Learn the Basics of the Christmas Story

THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS is a well-put-together account of the events surrounding Jesus's birth that would work well to educate preschoolers through age eight in the basics of the Christmas story. It includes the story of the birth of John the Baptist, the angel's visiting Mary, Joseph's being reassured by the angel that he could marry Mary, Jesus's birth, the visit of the Magi, and the trip to Egypt and back. Ellis presents the Christmas story in an interesting manner that is well-suited to its target age group. Each story is only two pages long, making the book suitable both as a bedtime read for younger children and a chapter book for the older ones. The illustrations are large and done in bright colors. The basics of the Christmas story are well-presented, and there are thought-provoking questions after each story, along with a "retell the story with pictures" feature at the end. While it is true that the importance of John the Baptist's birth and his family tie to Jesus are not mentioned, maybe they don't have to be at this age group. The book comes with a DVD that tells even more of Jesus's story, including His getting "lost" in the temple at the age of twelve, His temptation by Satan, and His love for children. It also has coloring pages. I would certainly recommend this version of the Christmas story to parents who want to make sure their children hear the story of Jesus as well as that of Santa Claus.

All about angels...

Hi, I'm Esmé, and I'm 2 and a HALF! I got this really terrific book about Christmas that I want to tell you about. I have LOTS to say about it! * What is the book about? Angels! * What do the angels do? They say, "Glory to God, glory to God!" * How does the story start? An angel - a Gabriel angel. He hurts [Zechariah's] eyes. He's in the sky. * Does he tell Zechariah he's going to have a baby? Yes. There's the baby. And [Zechariah] talks! * Then what happens? Angel Gabriel went to this woman and she's going to have a baby. Where's the baby go? Keep going! * What's Joseph doing? He's sleeping because he's tired, because he must go in his bed to sleep. Angel tells him "have a wife!" * A donkey! * A baby! The angel doesn't hurt the baby's eyes! * What's special about the baby? He was in a manger where the animals were fed. * Another angel! He hurts their [shepherds'] eyes. * He makes them scared? Yeah. He says, "Go to Bethlehem." * There's a little lamb! * Angels! * How many angels? 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 of them. * Only nine? Yeah. * You're sure about that? Yeah. * A camel! * Jesus and him [wise man] and him [wise man] came to visit them. No, these are just camels. No, they are people - wise men! No, they are camels! * Are they bringing presents? Yeah. * This is the end. * That's not the end! The donkey carries baby Jesus. * My eyes! What's wrong with your eyes? Are you seeing angels? Yeah! They are burning my eyes! * I'm going to look outside and see the angels. [Goes to window - it's dark outside.] Look! I see angels! You do? What are they doing? They "Glory to God!" Look, they are next to the light! They are next to the moon! They are hurting my eyes! Mommy's Notes Not sure what I can add to that! This tells the familiar story in easy-to-understand language and cute illustrations. Lots of angels, and one line that made a big impact on Esmé: "The angel's light was so bright, it hurt [the shepherds'] eyes." That, plus "Glory to God!" I would probably also recommend this for the 4-7 age group, though in combination with the DVD, which Esmé loves, the book works great for her. In her relaxed moments, she's happy to sit through the whole thing. Thanks to Thomas Nelson for the review copy of this book, received for a Mama Buzz review.

Great Christmas story

I look forward to sharing the story of Christmas with my grandchildren, the way I shared it with my own children. "Read and Share The Story of Christmas" by Gwen Ellis has just made this a little bit easier for me. Not only were the pictures simple and wonderful, but a DVD is included. The stories are told in a simple language that my three year old will be able to understand. They are short enough to keep her engaged. I think what I really enjoyed was placing myself in the shoes of a child reading the book and watching the DVD and knowing how much I enjoyed it. This Christmas. I really enjoy receiving a book from Thomas Nelson Publishing for the purpose of reviewing it and blogging about it .

A New Christmas Tradition for those cute little tykes!

A truly wonderful read for children and their parents! The DVD combo idea was magnificent as both truly tell the wonderous story of Christmas in a way that will be forever in a child's mind! Written in a way that little minds will comprehend, Gwen Ellis tells a wonderful story of how Christmas came to be, from Zachariah's story to the birth of Jesus to the Wiseman. I have a 5 year old and a 7 year old and they both sat in awe as I read this story to them. The pictures that are used in this book complete the story so well. It is like the words were written to go with the pictures, not the pictures to go with the words. My children had as much fun telling their own Christmas Story just from the pictures as they did listening to the story and watching the DVD. This is a book that I would give as a gift to anyone who has children from the ages of 2 and up. It is a fun and inspiring read for everyone and wonderful new tradition to start for the whole family. A 5 star rating for both illustrations, story telling and DVD addition. Well done, Gwen Ellis!! ~This book was provided for the purpose of review from Thomas Nelson Publishing Company. No money was recieved for this opinion.