The Nativity

The nativity story is told textually in a straight-forward and traditional fashion (Luke, KJV, slightly abridged), but the modernistic illustrations, to my mind, do not suit the subject matter, being undignified rather than quaintly humorous.
Apparently, the latter was the intention, as Vivas cites this book as one of her favorite works in one interview, and on-line reviews are uniformly positive (although not all readers agreed).
However, not knowing this, I was hard pressed to decide if the illustrator was expressing heterodox reverence, or ridicule.

The text is taken from the king james edition of the bible, and I can see many adults retelling the story in their own words rather than reading for younger children, but the pictures tell the story anyway, so a bit of mystifying vocabulary probably wouldn't matter with this pictorial context.

As for the pictures, they are beautiful, luminous watercolours. The figures are gawky and tender, both funny and moving. I bought my copy just for Vivas' art. By the way, she also illustrated another delicious book, Gordon Wilfred McGonegall Partridge.

The biblical story of the Nativity is one about faith, love--and a miracle. With illustrations that are enchanting and unexpected, Julie Vivas reveals the human side to Mary's story, beautifully imagining the Angel Gabriel delivering the news to her, the exhausting journey with Joseph to Bethlehem, and at last the deliverance of the baby Jesus. (amazon)

Well, Vivas' illustrations certainly enliven the story and help bring it closer to the young reader. And the text is not an adaptation, but excerpts from the King James Bible. One could do worse, if one wanted to read a Christian Christmas story to little children. I read it on Open Library.

This book is very interesting to me. My family has never been very religious, but it is talked about in my home. As a child, I grew up on bible stories, and that is not something that I see very much of today. I genuinely enjoyed this book for two reasons: it brought back wonderful memories of my childhood and I think if it is, if approved by guardians, it would be a great read in a classroom. I say approved by guardians because classrooms are very diverse and students in the classroom may have different religions or beliefs. A teachers job is to teach students, but never to contradict their beliefs or disregard their feelings. This book is wonderful, but precautions should be taken if they are used in a classroom. Audience awareness is show more very important. show less

The Nativity tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The story starts with Mary being told she will have a son and includes the journey to Bethlehem, Jesus's birth, and the visit from the wisemen. The illustrations were different and almost whimsical. The characters had a strange appearance. This would be a good for children to read that explains the birth of Jesus in the point of view of a Christin. However, I think the illustrations were lackluster. I feel as if there are better versions of the Nativity elsewhere because of the illustrations.

Jesus , Christ - Nativity, Bible, Christmas