Bartholomew's Blessing [Hardcover]

Stephanie S. Tolan (Author), Margie Moore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In this Christmas story, a mouse is invited by an angel and a fox to make the journey to Bethlehem and be blessed by the Christ Child.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–A little mouse wants to take presents to the "newborn Prince," but he accidentally loses the barley head, the seed pod, and the special stone he finds on his way to the stable. However, when Baby Jesus smiles at him, he becomes "the biggest creature in the stable." The illustrations, rendered in soft colors and full of sweetly rounded animals and angels, will appeal to young children. The story itself is rather bland, with an ending that may strike readers as anticlimactic. Gentle but disappointing.–E. M.
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About the Author

Stephanie S. Tolan's earliest memories involve books -- those that were read to her and those she read to herself, often late at night with a flashlight under the covers. She always thought there was a special magic in the little black marks on paper that could turn into whole worlds and real people. Born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin, she wrote her first story in the fourth grade. It was thrilling to discover she could make the magic herself, and she decided then and there to be a writer.

Other ambitions came and went, but writing stayed on, and she majored in creative writing at Purdue University, then went on to a Master's Degree in English. Marriage and the sudden addition to her life of three young stepsons, and then a son, forced writing into the nooks and crannies, but she wrote poetry and plays for adults as she taught college English. Her husband's career in professional theatre moved the Tolan family around the country, and writing was a comforting constant. In the mid-seventies, Stephanie began working in the Poets-in-the-Schools program in Pennsylvania. Her first group of students were fourth and fifth graders, and she found among them a new generation of intense readers, still using the flashlight-under-the-covers trick.

"They brought back to me that special reading joy that most adults -- even the readers among us -- have lost, and I wanted to try my hand at writing for those kids, so like myself at their age and yet so different."

The difference, she felt, was less in the children themselves than in the fast-changing world they lived in. Her writing for children and young adults, beginning with Grandpa -- And Me in 1978, has reflected that contemporary world. Tolan's suspense novel A Good Courage looks at the dark side of life in a fictional cult/commune. Plague Year is a harrowing story of hatred, fear and harassment in a small town high school, and the violence eventually spreads into the community. With Who's There? and The Face in the Mirror, Tolan ventures into the spine-tingling realm of the contemporary ghost story. Save Halloween! tells of conflicts faced by Johnna Filkins, daughter of an evangelical Christian minister, when her understanding of democracy collides with her family's wish to impose their beliefs on their hometown. And Ordinary Miracles revisits the Filkins family, this time following Mark, one of the twin future preachers, who meets a Nobel laureate and must find a way to reconcile his faith with the world of contemporary science.

Stephanie Tolan is also well known as an advocate for extremely bright children. She co-authored the award-winning nonfiction book, Guiding the Gifted Child, and has written many articles about the challenges gifted "asynchronous" children and adults face as they find a way to fit into their world. She lectures throughout the country to audiences of parents, educators and counselors attempting to find ways to meet the children's needs. Her experiences with these "amazing, off-the-charts" young people inspired the themes of Welcome to the Ark, a powerful novel about four brilliant young misfits in a world teetering on destruction. The first volume of a projected trilogy, Ark is followed by Flight of the Raven, due out in the fall of 2001.

Mrs. Tolan currently lives on a little lake in a big woods in Charlotte, NC with her husband, one dog, one cat, two fish and plenty of outdoor creatures.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060011971
• ISBN-13: 978-0060011970
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,590,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believing in Yourself, November 19, 2004

By 

Pgletsmom (Irving, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bartholomew's Blessing (Hardcover)

A wonderful story about how Bartholomew the mouse was little and tiny when HE thought he was. But when HE began to believe in himself, he was as big and important as any of the other creatures in the forest. An important message about self image for us all.

5.0 out of 5 stars a book to read on Advent, August 25, 2008

By 

nana (fl.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bartholomew's Blessing (Hardcover)

My hucband always reads a story on Christmas eve to all 8 children, and to all their children,our grandchildren,20 , and one great-grandchild. We mail it to those out of town, for their daddys to read.

Last Christmas eve this book is what we chose, and after he read it we give each parent the book child ,and each child,... and their mommys and daddys :) , a small mouse named Bartholmew,>>to put in their manger scene.. we find a story every year and do this... they love it..Love, nana..
and so do we as they all have manger scenes..and know what Christmas is about ..the new born Babe ib the hay,