Thursday, March 3, 2016

If He Had Not Come by Nan F. Weeks

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Recently, HarperCollins Publishing sent me two books to review here on Mom Is Forever. One of those books was If He Had Not Come by Nan F. Weeks. We are getting ready to enter the spring season here but I was still excited to read this new Christmas book. I received the book in ebook format.

If He Had Not Come by Nan F. Weeks

Illustrated by Charles Jaskiewicz

If He Had Not Come is a children’s Christmas book. Traditional Christmas stories tell the story of the birth of Jesus, but this is a different kind of Christmas story. If He Had Not Come encourages children to think about what life might be like today if Jesus had never been born. Bobby, the little boy in the story, wakes up one morning, expecting to enjoy his usual family Christmas morning traditions. Instead, everything is different. There are no family traditions. Businesses that are usually closed for Christmas are open. There is no church and the New Testament is missing from his Bible! When Bobby asks questions, nobody has even heard of Christmas. How can this be?

The message of this story is well written. Children who read this book will realize the true meaning of Christmas and what life would be like if Jesus had not come to earth. After the story, there is a section called Interactive Topics for Families and Sunday School Teachers. There is a series of questions for families to discuss together. Discussing the answers to the questions will deepen the meaning of the story and build a foundation for life application. After the Interactive topics section, families will find a section titled Going Deeper. Here families will find further topics for discussion along with numerous scripture references. The next section is the Gospel Message. In this section, readers are led through the path to salvation.

I found this book thought-provoking not only for children but also for adults. It has the feel of an old-time classic story that children will want to read year after year.

Get your copy of If He Had Not Come here.