25 Days of the Christmas Story: An Advent Family Experience

I got this book for our 6 year old granddaughter. Here is what her mom told us after the first night…. Haven and I started a new book tonight, a countdown to Christmas through Jesus‘s birth story, and there was a question that asked her about how she could help somebody who did not know Jesus. And she said I would draw them a picture and tell them they need to read a book about Jesus. I said do you know what Jesus looks like, and she replied with I know what he looks like in my heart. 💖

I am reading this with my 2.5 year old and I also have a 7 month old. So we’re not doing any of the family activities or discussions this year. So I can’t speak for those, but for the readings and the illustrations, I give 5 stars.I actually love that I can do just the readings right now and have activities and discussions that seem to fit a variety of ages for future years. So it’s like this book with grow with our family.Firstly, thank you guys for giving the people slightly darker skin tones!Next, in the readings, I really appreciate that instead of saying like ‘so-in-so felt such-in-such way and was thinking these thoughts’ it is presented more like “can you imagine how ___ must have felt?” If the Bible meantions how someone felt, then fine, but I hate when Bible studies, etc. get all flowery and add stuff and present it as fact.Speaking of facts, I also like that they talk about how we don’t know when the magi visited, but that it was probably between 16-24 months after Jesus’ birth. There are some other things like that which I really appreciate.There was one reading I didn’t really like, and I think maybe it was the Herod one. I’ll have to come back and edit this if I look and see it was another one. Anyway, for Herod, they did focus a lot on him being jealous of Jesus. I can’t remember if the Bible said “jealous” but the way it’s written, I don’t know. But anyway, alllll the other ones have been great.Also, the reading about Jesus’ birth is on like day 13 I think. I believe I did the math and if you wanted Jesus’ birth to occur on Christmas Day, then the rest of the days allow you to have the 12 days of Christmas to be after Christmas (which is how it used to be I believe) and I think that makes it end on Three Kings Day/Day of Epiphany.Anyway, I’m so glad we have this book and I’m trying to contact the authors to ask them to do a book leading up to Easter too. And honestly, I’d love to have a quick daily devotional that would be flexible enough to do with little littles and be able to grow as they do.

I am told by my granddaughter that the children loved the advent calendar, and the adults loved introducing their kids to the advent experince. I also get them a children's book to help explain the game they were playing.

Love this Advent book!!!!! Will use year after year!

The media could not be loaded. TL;DR: This is definitely not a book, but as the cover says, a family experience. While it might be a bit much for younger kids, I think 5 and up would really grasp it well and the family activities are a great way to make the holiday season interactive and memorable. Love the cover to cover color and consistency in cadence and illustrations as well as the lengthy section in the back for Christmas memories to be cherished and shared for years to come.I saw this book last year when it first came out and it was so popular I actually couldn't find a copy to start it on time for the advent season. I'm glad we didn't get it last year as the concepts, wording, and activities would've been way too much for our nearly 2 year old. Now that we have a nearly 3 year old and a 1 year old, I still find the text and activities to be a bit mature for his age. I think kids 5 and up would do much better with this book. There are a lot of "big" words in the text and sometimes the authors can get too caught up in "Christianese" terms and language that they forget about the audience. For this year, we will likely just be reading through the small story lines and skipping most of the activities and questions for now.Here's how the book is set up:Each day (1-25) represents a person, place, or thing that had a part in the Christmas season. There is an illustration for each "character" as well as their theme trait. Then, a small story is on the opposite page as well as the person's verse themes. The next page has suggestions for family discussions and activities to go along with the character's story for that day.While the stories are short and well-written, they're still chock full of bigger words and concepts and sometimes the "Christian language" is overarching on being able to have an understandable Christmas story. A lot of the activities, though well thought out, are quite involved or require a lot of prep time or just advance notice. I'd suggest if you're planning on doing the activities that you get yourself comfortable at home and get ready to spend quite some time on the different activities as some seem lengthy. I'd also suggest you read the whole book or at least a week at a time in the book so you have an idea of what activities you do and do not want to do as well as prepping your mind, heart, and crafting supplies.My suggestion would be to let the book grow with your family. This year we will probably do very few of the activities and then words and concepts that may go over my 3 year old's head need to be explained in a way he can understand.Overall, I love the book. I love all of the people/places/things that are woven together to bring us to the birth of Jesus. I definitely think this is a good book you can adapt for your older kids to grow in to, but I also love that we can do some of the activities if I give myself eonough time to plan ahead.I love that there is a 20 page section in the end to jot down various Christmas memories thorughout the season, year to year, whether it be related to the book or not. This certainly is a book that's giftable and also one that could be used for years to come an even passed down to the next generation.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. It has a short reading every day of December that reflects on the Christmas story, featuring a different character each day. It also includes an activity for the family to do together to reflect on the daily reading.

We have enjoyed it so far! My almost 5 year old grabs it each night. Some of it is over her head but she is hearing the stories and remembering them. We haven’t done the activities.

Love that it includes a brief but accurate description of characters from the Bible that are biblical! Also love the family activity and questions. Will definitely be using it every year!