The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: An Interactive Family Celebration of Advent Hardcover – November 7, 2017

Lacking in many areas. Pretty though...

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Gelman

December 17, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I suppose this might be fine for little kids (younger than 7-8), but I did not find it very useful for our kids. The devotionals are not only simplistic, but did not seemed as focused on Christ as much as other advent devotionals. The message just seems to be "How much Christ loves you" instead of "Here is who Christ is, and what he did, and what should that mean." I also did not like the liberties she took with the Bible stories, as well as the overly simplistic translations of actual Bible verses.

For instance, December 4th talks about the flood: "God's heart hurt so much that His tears fell like a flood." That has a very different feel than a flood of judgement. Furthermore, Voskamp says, "God offered everyone a gift...an ark. 'Come get into the ark.'" Um....not sure where that is in the Bible. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

I typically don't write reviews for devotionals like this, but this one had glaring deficiencies.

2 people found this helpful

Perfect for the target audience! Truly lovely!

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David Larson

December 18, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Beautiful artwork! There are sweet stories of the main characters in Scripture through whom the Lord revealed Himself and who responded to His call. I don't mind the author's artistic touch of seeing God as weeping for those He must judge in the flood. It is written for little children and they love it and see the heart of God precisely because of how it is written. Nothing is taken away or lost because of the expressive heart and perspective of the author. Her work is beautiful and not unBiblical in any way. She sees the heart of the Father and the heart of Christ. The kids LOVE putting each ornament on the lovely tree and they are hearing how God reaches out to us with His great love. It is wonderful for children under the age of 10. Children will hear more of the depth and other aspects of those stories as they grow. The joy and tenderness of how the stories are told are perfect for the target audience. We can hit the hearts of our children too hard sometimes with the stories and this book touches them with the beauty of how God reaches out to us and is at work through all of history. We have LOVED it this year! Thank you, Ann, for all the work you put into the book! God bless your family and your ministry! (We have seven children ranging in age from 3 to 16 and all of us have been blessed by it.)

One person found this helpful

KellyTop Contributor: Harry Potter

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Beautiful

January 4, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Based on her bestseller Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp expands her presentation of the timeless Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree with this beautiful keepsake book that can be handed down and enjoyed for generations. Each December, families can celebrate the coming of Jesus by opening the book to see a stunning 13-inch, three-dimensional Jesse Tree pop up from the page. At its foot are 25 doors, one for each day of Advent, which hide meaningful, beautifully detailed ornaments--including the Christmas star--that are ready to be hung on the tree. Also inside is a simple devotional book with a reading for each ornament. Create precious holiday memories with The Jesse Tree Pop-Up Book and recapture the sacredness of the Advent season as you celebrate the epic pageantry of the coming of the Messiah. Last year I really wanted to get her book: Unwrapping the Greatest Gift but just couldn't get the ornaments and tree in time. This year I saw this book coming out and I knew this would be perfect for us and it was. My son who is over a year and a half looked forward to it everyday. When papi didn't make it home for lunch we would wait until dinner to read it but that meant all through lunch he would point at the book sitting on the table. I felt the writing in this one was perfect for him. It was short enough for our family and had a little prayer at the end. My only downfall of this was one of the ornaments fell off the tree and the puppy chewed off a corner. I'm hoping at some point she will sell replacement ornaments. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars

Amazing! Did Not Disappoint!

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Tonya Burns

December 3, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Beautiful presentation from unwrapping the plastic wrap it arrives in to opening each advent "door/flap." The devotional is thoughtfully put together. It is scriptural, giving just enough for our 4 year old to understand and apply! We've used various advent calendar over the 29 years of raising our children. This by far is the most amazing one yet!

4 people found this helpful

Pretty but not well written

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Forestgold

December 22, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The big book with ornaments and popup tree are beautiful. But the tree is a bit too delicate for our household. The devotional book has left us with much to be desired. The writing is over the top and filled with exclamation marks and words like "wonderful" and "fabulous". The stories are frequently over simplified or too far altered from the actual bible stories to be useful. My child is 3, and I often feel it is too dumbed down for him. This is our first year with a Jesse Tree, so we have continued use the book. I simply gloss over all of the superlatives to try to find the stories we are supposed to be hearing.

One person found this helpful

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL and extremely unique Layout

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