Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you’ve never been to this blog, we LOVE books. People who come over are astounded at the number of books we have. Every celebration involves books and so when we had the opportunity to review a new Christmas book from David Nicholson, I was pretty excited. We have a fair amount of Christmas “twaddle” and I would love to add some more quality ones.
If He Had Not Come
David Nicholson was sitting at a church event one day and heard a story about a boy who discovered what it would be like if Jesus had never come. It changed his life and each year he told the story to his family. Finally, he decided to turn it into a picture book, titled If He Had Not Come. Sold as a hardcover, this book is $18.99 and is aimed at ages 6 and older.
Likes & Dislikes
This book has been read at least several times a week since it arrived. While part of that is due to an embargo on out of season books, most of it is due to how good the book is. We do, after all, have hundreds of books :).
If He Had Not Come is a story about a boy who goes to sleep pondering John 15:22. He wakes up to discover that his world is vastly different and anything that made people Christlike is missing & replaced by the words “If he had not come.” Gone are the children’s home, homeless shelters, hospitals and churches. As he tries to find help for people & go places, he can’t. Finally, he heads back home to find it empty. He wakes up on Christmas to find everything the same, except his heart.
It’s a beautiful gift quality book and the illustrations are rich and do a great job putting emotion into the story so that even younger listeners can enjoy it. There is a section in the back that can be used to “receive Jesus into your heart.” While the Catholic faith doesn’t quite work like that, a lot of faith traditions do and it’s a good start, especially if the child’s family is not religious. There is also a set of discussion questions and a more in depth bible study in the back.
Summary
If He Had Not Come is an excellent addition to your Christmas book pile or advent calendar. It’s an excellent story that has great discussion for older kids as well as being just a Godly story for Christmas. I’m really glad to have it in my collection! It’s one of those heirloom-type keepers, ya know?
Click here to see what other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought of If He Had Not Come!
