Customer Reviews

Jacob's Gift

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jacob's gift is a story that one will not easily forget. It sheds new light on the gift-giving tradition, and causes one to realize that it really is the thought that counts. God obviously put considerable thought into the precious gift given to us: the Christ Child.

Max Lucado's "Jacob's Gift" was the best book I've read in a long time! It shows how a young boy gave his project to the couple who needed it. I recommend this book to all young readers and teachers of all grades.

JACOB'S GIFT is another wonderful retelling of the Christmas story by Christian author Max Lucado. Jacob is a young carpenter apprentice who has a creative imagination. He often finds himself ridiculed by the other children who do recognize his talents, but the master carpenter, Rabbi Simoen, recognizes and encourages the talent of Jacob.

The class gets excited about a carpentry project that will be judged by Simeon's nephew, a carpenter who will be visiting Bethlehem very soon. Jacob decides to build hay troth on wheels. He is busy at work when he hears a cry from a stable. A child has been born, but it has no crib. Jacob wonders if he should ignore the cry, or give the young couple the unfinished hay troth to use as a crib even though it will mean he will not have a project for the contest. Jacob decides to give away the troth. When he begins to tell Rabbi Simeon why he has no project, the nephew arrives. He is none other than Joseph who proudly tells the story of his son as well as the generosity of the Jacob whose gift saved the day.

Lucado is again able to tell the familiar story of the birth of Christ in an interesting and engaging manner. The artwork by illustrator Robert Hunt will capture the imaginations of younger children. The book is also suited for older children as well since Jacob is probably a preteen and has to make an important moral choice

This is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. Jacob, a young boy who is skilled at wood working, vows that he will give the best gift among his peers. His Rabbi, a wise old man leads his young charges to give to others. When Jacob sleeps through the glorious night of Jesus' birth, he is awakened to the Light of Jesus' love the following day. In so desiring to learn what the Rabbi had been trying to teach him, Jacob learned that Jesus was the best gift of all. The gift he could give to Jesus was his unflagging love and his mission to do the work of Jesus on earth.

This wonderful book is beautifully illustrated and is a delightful teaching tool for all ages. I love it and can't recommend it highly enough. It is special.

I found the relationship between Jacob and Rabbi Simeon very, very touching.

I have loved Max Lucado's books. HE writes with such passion and sincerity for children and for adults. I was, however, disappointed with this book. The story was simplistic and terribly predictable. I am usually able to turn to the illustrations to support the story, but this led me to another disappointment. Hunt's drawings simply were very busy. Good illustrations are able to tell the story by themselves, with no text. Even with the text, one would have trouble deciphering exactly what these drawings were depicted. The overall redeeming quality of this book is how it does present a Christian story and reminds all of us of the lowly life our Lord was born into.

Why 3 stars?:
While Max Lucado's books for children are normally wonderful, this one falls well short of the bar. The illustrations actually hurt the story, not support it. This is, however, a book about the glory that is Jesus Christ, and does therefore deserve to be read and shared with children.

Jacob is a young Jewish boy, created by Max Lucado, with a gift for Christian carpentry who is busy finishing up a project for a contest. Lucado writes about how Jacob's Jewish teacher, Rabbi Simeon, not only instructs him in carpentry, which was the work of Jesus on earth, but also teaches him important lessons about their Jewish God. Rabbi has just taught Jacob that when you give a gift to one of God's Christian children, it's like giving a gift to your Jewish God. The night before the contest while working on his project, Jacob has fallen asleep in the workshop and is awakened by a bright light: the bright light of Jesus. The light is a Christian star which is directly over Jacob's father's stable, indicating that the newborn savior of all people, Jews and Christians, had been born-- the Christ child. As he approaches the stable, he sees a Christian man and woman, and a newborn Christian baby Jesus which is laying in the straw. Remembering what Jewish Rabbi Simeon had told him, Jacob returns to the workshop and takes his project (a feeding trough for babies) to the new Christian family. The morning of the contest, the Jewish Rabbi pleased to find out that Jacob has acted upon the lesson he learned and has truly given a gift to their Jewish God, just as Jesus would have, as it's the work of Jesus on earth. This story is very accurate and sensitive regarding Jewish faith, culture and history. I recommend it to everyone, especially educators, because it gives readers a valuable glimpse into what it means for people of all faiths to be inspired. This book was very educational for me, as I hadn't had any contact with Jewish culture before reading it. Thank you for a great book, Mr. Lucado!

Jacob is a helper, wants to make build. He is Christian, but say he is Jewish, because writer. Max Lucado. Very good, I am learning English because of him I learn the giving a gift to children, I give gift to God. This is a strong message, so I gave a presented to homeless, but he gets mad and said bad things. This book would be good for homeless man, a gift, to be generus and not try to hit me, give me feeding trough like Jacob I want to ask. He lives my street. This is a good book for Christians like me.

Max Lucado has a knack for taking a story from the Bible and making it come to life. "Jacob's Gift," illustrated by Robert Hunt, is certainly one of those stories.

Jacob, the main character in the story, exhibits a natural talent for working with wood. The Rabbi has announced to all his students the upcoming arrival of his nephew, a master carpenter from Nazareth. The nephew is coming to help the Rabbi select one of his students to work on a new synagogue. Jacob is intrigued by the idea of being chosen for such an honor and is working on a special project to prove his talents.

Rabbi Simeon knows Jacob is on his way to becoming a master carpenter himself. He tells Jacob, "God has given you the gift of woodworking." He goes on to say, "God gives gifts, Jacob. Some can sing, others teach, and you - you can build...God gave you this gift to share with others...When you give a gift to one of His [God's] children, it's like giving a gift to God."

Jacob spends his days helping his father get their family owned inn ready for an expected influx of visitors; he spends his evenings cutting, sawing and shaping his special project. Then, on a special night, when the stars are bright overhead, a man and a woman arrive at the inn his father owns. Jacob sees the bright star and follows the light to the inn's stables, where he sees a stranger, with his wife and their newborn infant. The baby is wrapped in cloths and is lying on the ground in a nest of straw.

Jacob has spent countless hours on his special project; it's a new type of manger that Jacob designed himself, a manger with wheels. He knows he has done a good job on it and he wants to have it ready to show to the Rabbi the next day, but when he sees the baby lying in the straw, he also knows that's not a fitting place for an infant. He gives the new manger to the couple for the use of their newborn son. Little does he realize the significance of his gesture, the true measure of his gift.

This is a book about the birth of Christ, about Christmas, but that is really only a small part of the story. The larger message is about giving gifts to others and about God's gift of his Son to us.

The book is beautifully illustrated with life-like drawings done mostly in muted colors.

What I Like: Everything.

What I Dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: The publisher suggests an age group of 9-12 years, but I believe this is a book that the entire family would enjoy.

Christine M. Irvin - Christian Children's Book Review

The book came as described and in time for Thanksgiving, like I had hoped. I was totally satisfied with the service.