10 of those

GIVE-AWAY: The King and The Shepherd Boy

I have just bought 100 of these books to give away to our toddler group families and local preschool children this Christmas. They are fabulous value for money and make a really lovely gift. The book is beautifully illustrated and is larger than I thought it would be (c.21cm x21cm), so a really nice size for grown ups to read together with a child. The book is recommended for ages 4–7 and I would agree with this. The language and some of the words used in it (scrolls, pursuit, prophets) are a little older than I would normally chose as a give away for preschoolers. However, this book is one that I would have loved to read to my children when they were that age, and I can see it becoming a family favourite that will be brought out each year. The delightful rhyme helps the story to flow along and there is plenty to look at in the pictures to keep little ones entertained. Purists might question the arrival of the Magi at the same time as the shepherds, but this is nicely explained at the very end, where it tells you the Bible references for the Christmas story. As we are giving this away to mainly non–church families, I also particularly like that the poem finishes with an invitation to join in with the King & the Shepherd, “will you go to Bethlehem too” and “He came as a saviour for you”.

Teresa Nixon