Paperback
128 pages
HarperCollins
ISBN 978-0064402750
SRP $5.99
Ages 7-12:) 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

This little book has been part of my Christmas since I don’t know when …

And I don’t remember if I read the book or saw the 1983 TV special first.

But I love this story.

Probably because it seems so quaint yet still “rings true.”

There are so many who haven’t heard the gospel yet!

Just as preparations for the annual Christmas Eve children’s pageant are gearing up, the Herdman kids show up at church.

The six Herdman kids were “the worst kids in the history of the world.”

They had never heard the story of Jesus’ birth. They had no idea what a Christmas pageant was. But they wanted in on it. Then the other children wanted out—and all the main roles went to the Herdmans.

The pageant, the worst kids in history, and that church—they were never quite the same again.

Cover of the first edition

Author Barbara Robinson’s story came out in book form in 1971, after a shorter version appeared as a fiction piece in McCall’s magazine. It’s been in a variety of editions since then, with a variety of covers.

The book makes an excellent read-aloud. There are seven brief chapters, so you might want to read a chapter a night during the week leading up to Christmas.

Or watch on YouTube and then talk about it as a family. The film version stays close to the book. (Robinson wrote the screenplay for this 1983 ABC-TV special.)

Either way, Merry Christmas! And remember,

“Hey! Unto you a child is born!”