The Nativity Collection - Holiday Gift Guide - BOOK REVIEW

Holiday Gift Guide posts feature books and products that I feel would make wonderful Christmas gifts for yourself or for others.

Title:  The Nativity Collection
Author: Robert J. Morgan
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson
Publish Date:  October 5, 2010
Hardcover, 128 pages
ISBN 10:1404189742

ISBN13: 9781404189744

Description:

Step into the wonder-filled world of Christmas with this endearing collection of original stories. Even though he has two million copies of books in print, Robert J. Morgan writes only one short story each year-an original work to share with his church on Christmas Eve. These Christmas stories are now available in one beautiful volume for your own enjoyment. You'll meet a shy, bookish boy who finds himself center stage in the Christmas pageant, a Pennsylvania family whose car disappears on December 24th, and a mountain man trapped in a blizzard with his grandson on Christmas Eve. From six different settings, you'll meet characters you feel you've known your whole life, who'll make you laugh one minute and cry the next. So this year, and the years to follow, gather your family and experience the true spirit of love at Christmas through this timeless gift of story.

From the book jacket:

Christmas-the season when God reaches into our ordinary days in extraordinary ways.  Witness the miraculous hand of God through the lives of some unlikely characters in The Nativity Collection:

An old woman who accidentally steals a car and ends up believing its owners are long-lost family...

A boy crippled by stage fright and his uncanny and hilarious ability to recite classic literature instead of his lines in the Christmas play...

A gifted artist who needs the perspective of the ultimate Creator...

A grandson facing a deep and painful loss...

A honeymooning couple who discover a foundation for love in the most unusual of places...

And a young father intent on carving the perfect cradle for his baby son.

In each story, a treasured nativity binds hearts together.  The Nativity Collection will open your eyes to the miracles happening around you-not just on Christmas Day, but each and every day throughout the year.

My Take:  This is a wonderful book.  Gorgeously bound with thick pages and lavish illustrations and photographs, it is perfect as a gift AND to buy for yourself and keep year after year.  You could even make a Christmas tradition of reading one story a night together in the week leading up to Christmas (that's what I'm going to do).

As with any collection of stories, there are some that you will LOVE and some that are just pretty good, but they all share one thing:  a nativity plays a part in each story, and they are all full of quiet miracles.

My ratings per story:

Ollie:  5 out of 5 stars

Poet Boy:  4 out of 5 stars

Over My Dead Body:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Five Quarters of a Mile:  4 out of 5 stars

Nativity Seen Smiling:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Sugarplum and the Christmas Cradle:  4 out of 5 stars

QUOTES:

Ollie

Well, this was turning into an exciting Christmas for me - a stolen car, an imprisoned family, a crazy old woman, and all our Christmas presents hanging in the balance.  It was an adventure!

Poet Boy:

Since no one could figure out how to keep the curtain from rising for Act 2, the players got into position.

Over My Dead Body:

It was a creche only a heartbeat away from life itself, and all who saw it knew that it was Max Schroeder's masterpiece.

Five-Quarters of a Mile:

But something was wrong, and Zeek felt winter in his bones.  Two days ago, he'd had a spell while shoveling snow from the path that led past the woodpile and on to the outhouse.  That pathway was crucial.  

Nativity Seen Smiling:

The unhappy couple had snapped at each other endlessly, taken their meals in silence, and thwarted all efforts at honeymoon bliss.

Sugarplum and the Christmas Cradle:

Finally he'd gotten to the S's, and that's when he'd found Sugarplum, and now she was Sugarplum morning, noon, and night.  Truth be told, it was getting a little sickening, even to Sugarplum, who felt she was being sugar pummeled to death.

Book Rating:  4.0 out of 5 stars

BUY IT:  At Amazon, through the publisher, and at other on-and-off-line booksellers.

 This book is part of my 2010 Holiday Reading Challenge list.

Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this title to facilitate my review through Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program.  No other compensation was received, and I was not required to post a positive review.