Since Thanksgiving, we've been reading picture books from the enormous stack of Christmas and Advent books from the library. On Saturday night, I flipped through the titles and I decided on Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt. Now, I have to say that I never thought I'd be laughing so much that I'd have a hard time reading. So many of the picture books we've read already are serious or serious tear-jerkers, but this one, you just can't help but laugh even though it's seems so serious.
This story is about a six year-old girl named Angela. She can't but worry that the baby Jesus is cold in the manger scene in her church, St. Joseph's in Ireland. She's concerned that His mother Mary has no blanket to keep Him warm. So, she waits in the church until it's empty and then decides that she is going to take the baby Jesus home so that she can warm him up. What ensues is an adventure to get the Baby Jesus to Angela's home so that she can ensure that He gets warm and then the ultimate return of the Baby Jesus to His mother back at the church. There's just such a good balance of humor and reverance that makes this story memorable.
The only thing I wish is that I could have read this with an Irish accent!
I know Angela and the Baby Jesus is one that we will read again next year and the year after that! What a new Christmas treasure!
It is worth noting that there are two editions of this book. There is a children's edition illustrated by Raul Colon and an adult edition illustrated by Loren Long. We read the children's edition and I have not seen most of the illustrations for the adult version. I will have to compare both editions for future reading.
1 comment:
I agree - great book. I did try the Irish accent but not sure I succeeded.
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