A Christmas book like none I’ve ever read. Voices of Christmas, published by Zondervan, took me back 2,000 years. I was there. (and this is a kids’ book, people!)
The unfolding of Christ’s birth is told by voices. The voices of the Angel Gabriel, Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth, and so many others. In the writing you can feel what they were feeling. Hear what they were hearing. Think what they were thinking. A few excerpts:
Mary: “My spine tingles from his touch. Such heat pulsing from the white light!”
“Now I, alone, remain rooted to this dirt floor, dizzy with wonder, pinching my wrist, waiting to wake from this dream.”
Joseph: “Why has she done this to me? How could I marry a girl who is having someone else’s baby?”
And after the angel’s visit: “I wait for this mighty mystery to unfold. For now, I am ready to do whatever Jehovah tells me to.”
Herod: “I shake my fist at Heaven, remembering the words of those blasted magi!”
“They spoke of a star rising in the sky, marking a holy birth – King of the Jews, come to earth! To take my place? Never!”
Each beautifully illustrated page-spread shares the perspective of one of 15 people in the story, “You” included! Powerful, I tell ya. A CD accompanies the book. When I listened to it while following along with the story, I felt like I was at the theater watching a drama.
I can’t wait to share this book with my family during the Advent season! Voices of Christmas claims to be best suited for ages 4-7. I don’t know. It’s such a powerful book; the emotions are so real. Definitely a fantastic family read, where parents can lead discussions with each new character, but I think older children (and adults!) would get just as much or more from the book as the littles.
Would you like to win a copy? Just tell me in the comments the title of your favorite Christmas book. I’ll let Random.org pick a winner on Sunday, November 15 (which just so happens to be my birthday!) around 8:00 PM, central time.
Just so you know: Zondervan Publishing sent me two free copies of Voices of Christmas; one to review and one to give to you!
The winner of last week’s giveaway, The Gift of the Christmas Cookie, is Denise! If you’re looking for Christmas tradition inspiration, you should definitely read through the awesome comments on that post.
This post is linked to Things I Love Thursday.
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
My Favorite Christmas book is The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado.
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My favorite Christmas book is actually part of a chapter from a bigger book . . . Luke. :>) Otherwise, I’d say the ZonderKids Angel book. Thanks for the chance, Amy!
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I really light midnight exspress. I don’t think I have read many christmas based books.
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i can’t think of any Christmas books other than the true Christmas story, but I’d love to start a collection.
happy birthday to you, too…we just happen to share birthdays which you’re only about the 3rd person that I know of who does! 
~eunice b
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My favorite book is The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. We read it as a family every Christmas Eve.
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My kids and I love
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne
and
God’s Precious Gift in a Manager by Rebecca Lamb
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We have so many Christmas books that I really can’t pick just one. I put them all in a basket (mainly children’s books but some are in there for the adults as well) and starting a month before Christmas every night the kids go and pick out a couple for me to read that night at bedtime. It is a favorite tradition of ours. This sounds like a great book to add to the basket. Thanks for the review. Have a blessed Christmas season.
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My favorite Christmas book is On that Night, by Elizabeth Yates. We didn’t have a lot of Christmas traditions, but several times over the years, my dad read this book aloud to us. The story is so gentle and peaceful. I can almost feel the warmth of the wood stove and hear my dad’s voice as he read it.
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I rarely — read: never — enter giveaways, but I can’t resist this one! My 5 yo LOVES Bible stories on CD, and I am sure this would be amazing for us to listen to/read together.
I don’t think we have a favorite Christmas book yet! We have lots and lots of them, but I can’t think of a single one to call our favorite! This is it, I’m telling you!
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I don’t think I have a favorite Christmas story. My parents had a box of books that only came out at Christmas, and I remember we loved digging through that each year, but I can’t think of any specific titles. I’d love to start a collection like that for my family. Thanks!
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I think our current favorite is “Room For A Little One” which is the story told from the animal’s perspective, really sweet.
We love Christmas stories and try to add a new one each year, so I will definitely be coming back to this post for titles to check out!
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definatly the bible! But I haven’t read many other christmas books!
would love to get this for our kids!
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We really like the book “Silent Night, The Song and It’s Story”. One reason it’s special to us is b/c Franz Gruber, who wrote the music for Silent Night, is my husband’s ancestor. But it really is a lovely book, with beautiful illustrations.
We try to get some new Christmas books every year…I’m hoping to eventually have a collection for each day of Advent.
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my favorite is the Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson!! lots of laughs!!
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I couldn’t think of a title for a book that we own when I first read your post and finally remembered that last year we picked up a cute one called There’s Always Room for a Little One which Mrs. Pear just happened to mention in her comment.
It is a cute book, but I’d love to add one more and this one sounds very intriguing! Thanks for the chance!
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My favorite Christmas book is “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!”
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Amy Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am
I loved reading that to my students every December. I’m sure my daughter would enjoy it now. Thanks for the reminder!
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Christmas Carol!! Just love it.
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My favorite Christmas book is the Polar Express.
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My favorite Christmas book would be the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible.
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My favorite Christmas book has always been Polar Express, too!!
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my favorite Christmas book has always been Polar Express, too!
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I love One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham. It’s special to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and this book shares that.
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Amy Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:53 am
That’s one of my favorites, too!
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My favorite Christmas book is tucked away in a box of Christmas decorations. I don’t remember the name of it, but it’s about a little girl and a shoebox.
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I love Christmas books. I have several on my bookshelf. Two stand out in my mind: one is “Skipping Christmas” by John Grisham; the other is “The Christmas Shoes” by Donna van Liere (the one that was made into a movie starring Rob Lowe & Kimberly Williams Paisley).
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Merry Christmas Stinky Face is my children’s favorite Christmas book, and I enjoy reading it to them.
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My very favorite Christmas story book is “Room For A Little One”. The illustrations (by Jason Cockcroft) are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen and the message is so accessible even to the very young.
I’m very intrigued by your review of this story, Amy!
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My favorite Christmas book is “Two from Galilee” by Marjorie Holmes. It beautifully tells the story of Mary and Joseph, and the events that brought baby Jesus into the world. It is a fictional novel, but holds tightly to everything we know about the Christmas story in Scripture. It gets me into the “true” Christmas spirit like nothing else. I try to read it every year!
By the way, happy early birthday, Amy! Mine is two days after yours.
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Amy Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Happy Birthday to you, too! Lots of birthdays in November!
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Oh, I would LOVE to win a copy of this book! I’ve been looking for a new one, and this would definitely fit the bill. My favorite? Hard to choose just one, but I think I would choose “The Cat Who Climbed the Christmas Tree” – it’s a Little Golden book, so very cute. My children are 11 and 14 now, and we still sit to read this and others every Christmas season. I’m hoping to buy “the Gift of the Christmas Cookie” this year – story of how Christmas cookies were first done for Jesus.
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My favorite Christmas book is the book of Luke in the Bible.
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My favorite children’s Christmas book is Room for One More by Martin Waddell. The story is sweet and the illustrations are precious!
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I can’t think of just one favorite Christmas book – there are so many that I like. I would love to win this for my grandson. He loves books. Thank you for the review!
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Our favorite Christmas book is Jotham’s Journey. We discovered it last year and can’t wait to purchase Batholemew’s Passage this year!
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Have to agree with Melinda’s pic“Two from Galilee” by Marjorie Holmes. Love it.
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I am so excited to read all these great books listed. My favorite Christmas book is the Night before Christmas–I learned to read with a version that had a tape player and little “dings” to turn the page. I was not from a Christian family but God was using even that book to instill in me the Wonder of Christmas. It is time to find a new favorite to pass on to my daughter.
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I just love Christmas books in general. But my husband’s family had a tradition of reading a Hallmark version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas that has pop-ups which is so fun to read with the kids after reading the Christmas Story in Luke on Christmas Eve. Such wonderful family traditions during the holidays!
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A Christmas Carol is still one of my favorites. Voices of Christmas sounds like a wonderful book. Thank you for the opportunity.
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my favorite christmas book for the kids is The Crippled Lamb by Lucado
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we like I Do believe in Santa. cute book.
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I don’t have a favorite Christmas book, but I got some great ideas from the comments. I am going to be hitting up the library at Christmas season. This book looks AMAZING!!
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We like “On this Special Night” by Claire Freedman.
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I echo Diaper Diaries! We have a good stack of books, but they’re all still deep in the junk room in their box, so I can’t remember the favs. Perhaps this one?
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My favorite christmas book is the legend of the candy cane. Susan
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I love the writing of Walter Wangerin. “The Manger Is Empty” is a beautiful book of Christmas stories and reflects that always brings me to tears.
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My favorite Christmas book is the story in Luke. We read it the night before Christmas in anticipation of our annual Jesus’ Birthday Brunch the next morning.
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I love Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. For kids, I recommend Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect.
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Outside of the accounts from the Gospels, we haven’t read too many Christmas stories. Though I have to admit that I’ll always have a soft spot for the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Crippled Lamb. This book sounds awesome and I love all the ideas I got fromt he other comments! Thanks!
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What a wonderful giveaway opportunity. Thank you for offering it.
My favorite CHRISTmas story to read aloud is The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado.
I also like God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren to read aloud to my younger child.
God bless you and yours!
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Thanks for reminding me….my favorite Christmas book was one my mom read me that had many short stories in it from the “heart”.
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