When my daughter and I talked about writing a new Christmas book, we both agreed that it needed to be different from what is already out there. With old and new Christmas books flooding the market each year, ours needed to stand out in the crowd.

We enjoy writing in rhyme for a young audience. We enjoy writing alphabet books for an educational element. So we wondered how we could add an additional feature that would distinguish it from other rhyming Christmas alphabet books.

We decided to tell the Christmas story in chronological order, using the alphabet. The editors at Tyndale were onboard, but wanted to be sure we could accomplish this goal before offering us a contract. We did, and they did.

M is for Manager had its debut in 2015 and recently went into its 4th printing. From the angel’s visit to Mary, to the zillions of stars that shone in the sky, M is for Manger takes the reader on a journey to a manger in Bethlehem which is where we find Jesus.

I hope you will enjoy sharing the Christmas story with your loved ones this year.

Crystal Bowman