As you know we love reading as a family. We love reading before bed, during the day, and whenever we have the time. And my kids are all ready excited for Christmas. So, when given the opportunity to review If He Had Not Come by David Nicholson, we were excited to delve into the book, even though Christmas is still a few months off.
David Nicholson reintroduces this classic Christmas story by Nan F. Weeks about a boy that gets a glimpse at what the world would be like if Jesus had never come in this touching Christmas book, If He Had Not Come.
Nicely illustrated by Charles Jaskiewicz, If He Had Not Come is an easy to read, beautiful book telling the story of a young boy that is excited for Christmas but awakens Christmas morning only to discover he is in a world that does not know Jesus and does not know what Christmas is.
The story is simple but powerful. The illustrations do an excellent job at keeping the kids engaged in the story. Both my 5 year old son and my 9 year old daughter were completely engaged in the story and asked for it to be re-read to them several times.
The book has discussion questions at the back that allow the readers to discuss the book further. It is thought-provoking for sure and the discussion questions can help you ask your kids (and yourself) questions to see what you are thinking about the story – If He Had Not Come.
The phrase If He Had Not Come is repeated throughout the story and, by the end, we had definitely been thinking about it. We started our discussion with questions like “What do you think the world would be like if Jesus had not come?” and “What would you do if you woke up on Christmas morning to find nothing as it should be and realize Jesus had not come?”
If was pleasantly surprised by the thought in the answers that my children gave to “What would you do if you woke up Christmas morning to find a world where Jesus had not come?”
I would pray to God to come back and make the world better. I would pray and pray until He heard me. -Avarie, age 9
I would run back upstairs and go back to sleep to get rid of the terrible nightmare. -Leyton, age 5
I love that my kids were definitely affected by the story and they thought about what it would be like if Jesus had not come. It is an important part of the holidays to remember what the birth of Jesus brought to us. What it meant for God to give His only son to us. So I think taking a minute to remember what his birth meant to us and thinking about what is the way it is BECAUSE of Jesus is a great addition to discussing the meaning of Christmas
I am excited to add If He Had Not Come to our library and our Christmas book repertoire. I look forward to sharing the story through the Christmas season with my family and friends and continuing to discuss the topics. We are memorizing one of the Bible verses shared in the discussion questions section at the end of the book, at my son’s request (he loves memorizing Bible verses).
Overall, I am very pleased with If He Had Not Come by David Nicholson. It is for all ages and available for purchase on David Nicholson’s website for $18.95 for a hard copy of $3.99 for the e-book.
Check out David Nicholson and his book on social media.
Be sure to see what others the rest of the Crew had to saw about If He Had Not Come by David Nicholson.
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