Today, Christmas is often reduced to a routine exchange of presents. This small book brings together words and images to guide children to the true Christmas, the Christmas that the Church has never ceased to celebrate. Derived from the Gospels themselves, this little volume simply retraces their account of the expectation and coming of Jesus. In addition, it recalls those saints who in various ways were close to the Child that first Christmas.

The children will find themselves in the company of these saints, following and listening to them on the way from Mary’s house to Elizabeth’s house, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, from the grotto that sheltered Jesus’ manger to the temple in Jerusalem, and from Egypt to Nazareth once more. In this way, young readers will understand why we celebrate Christmas, and why it is a day of gift-giving and lasting goodwill - and why the joy we experience at Christmas is not fleeting.

But children need adults to walk beside them, reading these pages with them and explaining the meaning of the text and the illustrations. FIrst among these will be the parent - a sign that a truly Christian Christmas has returned to the family. There is also a place for teachers, catechists, and all those who each year love to return and savor the announcement that “The Lord is born.”

Hardcover, 6 x 9, 47 pages