Customer Reviews

The Very First Christmas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A wonderful little book. It relates the Christmas story in a spiritual and historical context for children. It is a good introduction of the story of the birth of Jesus for children, since it explains a number of Biblical events in a way even a young child can understand their meaning. Nice illustrations, too.

This Gold Medallion Book Award title (for excellence in Evangelical Christian literature) is easy to overlook, since it appears to be yet another illustrated account of the birth of Jesus. Instead, what we have here is a recognized historian writing a kid-friendly book explaining some of the historical context of the Nativity story by having a mother answer her inquisitive child's many questions.

As Christopher's mom reads from gospel of St. Luke, chapter 2, she responds to her eight-year old son's questions about Caesar Augustus, registering for the census, why Joseph was not the father of Jesus Christ, why God chose Mary to be Jesus' mother, how old she might have been, where she lived, the lineage of King David, why Christmas is celebrated on December 25, what the stable was like, why there wasn't any room at the inn, why the shepherds were terrified at the sight of the angel, and how St. Luke knew "all this stuff."

This book is highly recommended to Christians of all traditions, as well as to non-Christian families who may be curious about what's really behind the Christmas story. As the author states in his brief introduction, many "children's Christmas books are often long on fancy and short on fact." I would agree when he says, "these pages...return the Christmas focus to where it belongs." The gospel story is no fairy tale, and here Paul L. Maier places it within the context of history, so children like Chris in this story can learn "about real people and real things that really happened."

This beautifully illustrated book explains many things about the biblical story of Christ's birth that can confuse children -- such as, why weren't Mary and Joseph married when she got pregnant, why were they going to Bethlehem, and why didn't they just stay in a hotel? I felt it wasa bit complicated for my 5 year old -- he will benefit from it more in the years to come. If you like this book you'll also love the author's book on Easter.

Young Christopher is tired of fairytales, and wants his mother to begin reading real stories to him. With Christmas approaching, his mother comes to him with the Bible, to read him the story of the very first Christmas, as found in the Book of Luke. Together, they read the passage, and discuss many things.

This is a great book. The text of the story was simple enough for my 7-year-old son to understand, and I believe that his reading the story will have more impact than my reading it to him. The illustrations by Francisco Ordaz are absolute masterpieces, and add greatly to the impact of the story. I recommend this book 100%!

WARNING: Look carefully at the title listed above before ordering. Amazon is listing the same reviews for both Maier's "The First Christmas" and his children's book "The Very First Christmas." "The First Christmas" is NOT the children's book "The Very First Christmas" as suggested in most of the reviews and Amazon's own description. It is actually a book for adults. It is an interesting archaeological study of the story of Christmas, but it is NOT a children's book.

This book is about the birth of Jesus Christ and more. The book breaks apart each section of the story from the gospel of Luke. It's actually a story within a story of a mom teaching her son about the real meaning of Christmas. Your kids will learn about the naming of the months of July and August and the greek word for Carpenter, etc. It's a great book but for older kids. The illustrations are so life like. Well worth the money and it will be a book that can be read for years.

As another reviewer noted, there are 2 First Christmas books by Paul Maier - "The Very First Christmas" which is for children, and "The First Christmas" which is for teens or adults. Unfortunately, Amazon combines the reviews for both, and the publisher's and editorial descriptions are confusing at best - publisher's description refers to the children's book (even for the "The First Christmas" adult book), and editorial description refers to the adult book (even for the "The Very First Christmas" children's book). And, the "Look inside the book" feature is not helpful either, as it depicts the "The First Christmas" adult book for both books. A very unfortunate mistake on Amazon's part. Or else the publisher was careless in the info they provided to Amazon.

Nevertheless, the books I've read by Paul Maier are very well written, informative, and illuminating. I would recommend this book - just be sure you are getting the particular version that you really want - kids or adults.

Update: upon actually receiving this book (hardcover edition), it is definitely NOT appropriate for young children. The text and storyline are too detailed for young (preschool or early elementary age) kids. It probably is most appropriate for kids around age 8 or older - which is different from what the "official" publisher/editor descriptions indicate.

The pictures are well done, so I could just "read" the book with my infant son and tell the story myself, or read the included Scripture portions (Luke 2 version) that are included on each 2-page spread. But I will probably not be giving this book to my son for Christmas as I had hoped.

Popular history writer and scholar, Paul L. Maier, has provided a tender, uplifting, and accurate illustrated story of the very first Christmas. Maier's simple exposition is made for children and adults, and is based on Scripture. The author furnishes all the relevant Bible verses on the birth of Christ as he expounds the story being told to a contemporary family.

This family-oriented book is fun, interesting, stirring, and beautiful. Perfect for family devotions or bedtime reading during the Christmas season. The pictures are warm and inviting, and after reading this to your children, they will have a wonder-filled appreciation for the Savior as they take great delight in the story surrounding Jesus' miracle birth. Maier aims to have the reader uncover the reason Christ was born: to live, die, and rise from the dead as the Redeemer of His people.
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This book was not at all what I expected. It was not for young children first off. They were totally confused and had not interest in ever reading it again. It also did not give as much information about the reason we celebrate Christmas as I had expected. I'm not even keeping this book, I'm giving it away. The only reason I gave it two stars is because they tried to make a book about the real reason for Christmas.

Paul Maier is a professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University and the author of A Skeleton in God's Closet, a historical-theological thriller for adults. This book brings his formidable expertise to bear on the subject of the Nativity, presenting the story's historical validity at a grade school level.

The book opens in a bedtime scene with a mother putting her son to bed in their warm American farmhouse. He informs her that he is too old for fairy tales and wants to hear a "real" story. She opens the Bible and reads him the Christmas story, then answers his rapid-fire questions with historically verifiable supporting details. The boy drifts off to sleep reflecting that "real stories -- especially God's story -- [are] certainly better than fairy tales."

The parent-child dialogue structure is very common in books of this genre, and while the structure doesn't usually make for great stories, it does make it easy to present lots of information in manageable chunks. Maier does a good job formulating the boy's questions so that you can imagine a precocious young boy actually asking them, and his mother's answers (while occasionally academic) sound like the answers a well-researched parent might give.

If Maier's expertise were less respectable or his writing less skilled, the question-and-answer format might make this book dull and pedantic. However, his research shines through, earning this book the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Gold Medallion Book Award in 1999. This an excellent resource for families who want to teach their children the historical validity of the Nativity story.