The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

 For our Advent book countdown, we opened up The Best Christmas Pageant Ever a couple of days ago, and tonight we read over 50 pages of it to finish it.  It is hard to put down once you start it, and Anna and Taylor kept begging me to keep on reading tonight.  A late bedtime was totally worth it for this!  We have read this every year for at least 4 years now, and I still cry every time when we read about the Herdmans who bring the meaning of Christmas to light such a fresh way. If you want to know why a ham was such an appropriate gift from the wise men or why it seemed perfect that the angel of the Lord shouted out "Hey! Unto you a child is born!", then run to the library as soon as you can to get this book to see Christmas with new eyes.  

One book review said the following: 

"I love the unexpected qualities of this story. Just try not to laugh out loud when little Gladys Herdman interprets the Angel of the Lord as a comic book character who shrieks, “Shazam!” But when Imogene, the rudest, bossiest, nastiest Herdman finally appears in the pageant as Mary, quiet and reverent and tearful, I defy any reader not to get emotional along with the awed church audience." 

 

 

Another guy on Amazon wrote this: 

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a story about THOSE kids. You know--the ones you avoid sitting next to at Pizza Hut. The ones who show up at church once or twice a quarter, when someone brings them. The ones you feel sorry for but secretly compare to your own kids to make yourself feel good about how well-mannered, smart, attractive your kids are.

THOSE kids, the Herdmans, show us that Christmas isn't just about our own families and our safe, secure homes, but about THOSE kids--the unwanted, nasty, obnoxious, dirty kids with whom we don't want our kids associating.

The point of the story is that we should open our eyes and see them as Jesus saw the little children and open our heart to love even the barely lovable.

This story is one that will grow with your children. As they mature, you can help them get more and more out of this story. It's definitely a repeat from one holiday season to the next."