Lee Bennett Hopkins (1938–2019)

I do agree with some of the early reviewers that at first this book starts off unusual and as though you had missed a page. However, once you have read through the story, you realize that you are listening to the voice of Mary and possibly her perspective of what the night of Jesus' birth was like for her. I admit, I was more mesmerized by the lovely illustrations, than I was the story at first. I was preparing this book for my granddaughter's Christmas advent books to read, and I know she will enjoy the artwork, the stable animals, and the animal sounds. But then I thought of another family member who recently experienced an unexpected early delivery and did not have the chance to hold her baby immediately and how she would likely relate to this song of Mary, who maybe just wanted to sing a lullaby to her newborn child. It occurred to me that this story really is a unique one than can tie in a mother's love for her child, who she is holding on her lap and reading this story, and the love that Mary was wanting to express to Jesus, in the midst of all the interruptions that came to her that night. Together, mother and child can be enveloped in the awe of the First Christmas with the reading of this book.… (mer)