The First Christmas [With 6 Puzzle Pieces]

By Allia Zobel Nolan

Written by a popular children's author, this captivating and colorful book teaches children how events that took place more than two thousand years ago still change people's lives. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Board book
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0794402224
• ISBN13: 9780794402228
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Reader's Digest Association
• Length: 5 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 9.7" x 10.2"
• Age Range: 2 to 5 years

Customer Reviews

First Christmas (Little Bible Playbooks)

ISBN 1575843285 - Childrens' books with unique gimmicks are rare and should be appreciated. This is one of those. Add the fact that it's a Christmas book and I'm already hooked. The story of the first Christmas is told, beginning with the angel that informs Mary that she will have "a very special baby". Joseph's confusion, the call for a census, the trip to Bethlehem and the rest of the story are all here. Without opening the book, from the front and from the back, you can see a layered picture. The pages are cut to different heights, the "taller" pages acting as "further away" people and places in the big picture. This is a very nice 3D effect and has the added bonus of offering another place to grasp the pages for turning. The front cover has two small cut-outs that are stable windows on the outside and house windows on the inside. Board book pages will stand up to some rough handling and the small size of the book makes it easy for small hands to hold. The pages are glossy and wipe clean easily. The text, by Allia Zobel-Nolan, covers all the high points of this Christmas fable without getting into such detail that a child couldn't follow it. For children of single mothers, there might be a question raised by Joseph; when Mary tells him that she's pregnant, it says "But since they weren't married, Joseph was confused", as if pregnancy couldn't be achieved without marriage. While that's a nice thought, and might even apply completely to the world of 2008+ years ago, it doesn't apply in the current world. Tracey Moroney's illustrations cover every inch of every page and are colorful and fun, although not particularly bright. Christian parents will appreciate this as a chance to introduce their child to their Christmas beliefs. Non-Christian parents probably won't care much for the book. I was raised reading these stories - and I've never been Christian - so I don't see any real harm in letting a non-Christian child read a book like this, which they'll probably see as no different than Frosty and Rudolph tales. - AnnaLovesBooks

Surely one of the best Christmas board books ever

This board book has beautiful illustrations. The neat thing about the design is that each page has a different shaped top. It layers the scene of the town of Bethlehem. Since it is a board book, the village buildings look like they are standing out from the star near the back of the book. The text is what I love. It tells the whole story in a simple, engaging way. It includes the angelic announcements to Mary AND Joseph! Wow. Also, I believe angels do not have wings (wings are used to denote the ability to fly, but are NOT literal) and was very pleased to see that all the angels look like glorified persons (without wings). The angels are multi-racial which was wonderful too. On a down-side Gabriel looks like a girl. Hmmm. Angels are definitely male or female, so this is the one detractor here. The wise men do not appear in this book. That did not bother me, because the wise men did not come until months/perhaps years later. The scriptures tell us they worshipped the "young child." Also, they entered a "house". So, here again I appreciated the doctrinal clarity of this retelling. No wise men were there that night. I'd love a second book recounting their later visit! There is spiritual food for the youngest child when the last page states "The shepherds found Jesus and knelt before him. Then they ran home to spread the news. God loves us so much, he gave us his Son!" As a parent with a strong belief that this is TRUE, I feel so happy to have a book that expresses this message so clearly and beautifully. BRAVO!