“Nativity” by Cynthia Rylant.
Simon and Shuster, New York, 2017, 32 pages, K-1.
Christmas is one of the most joyful days of the year. Families usually come together for celebrations and sharing.
Though Christmas has become increasingly commercialized, the reason for the holiday is religious. This is the day that Jesus Christ was born. This is the moment that changed all of human history for God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world.
Before Christ’s birth, also known as the Incarnation, all of humanity was estranged from God because of our sins. But with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, a new epoch of hope and light dawned for people. Now God had entered into human history. As St. John tells us, “and the Word made flesh and dwelt among us.” Nothing like this had ever happened before and all of history opened anew.
The nativity is the setting of many great paintings and poems. The highly commendable children’s Christmas plays from the Infancy Narratives from St. Matthew’s and St. Luke’s Gospels always delight us.
Into this wonderful time of the year, esteemed author Cynthia Rylant has written a touching account of Christ’s birth. For the text in the book, Cynthia Rylant uses Chapter Five of St. Matthew’s Gospel and Chapters Two and Six of St. Luke’s Gospel from the King James Bible. The name of the book is “Nativity.”
The story begins with the shepherds watching their flocks by night. Suddenly an angel appears to them announcing the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Next, to their astonishment, the sky is filled with angels praising God. Due to the heavenly announcement, the shepherds hurry to Bethlehem to adore the newborn Babe. When they return home, they tell others about this holy, majestic event. Meanwhile, Our Lady ponders all of these things in her heart.
Then the story changes. Jesus is now a grown man and begins preaching to the multitudes. Rylant focuses on the Sermon on the Mount in this section of the book. In this Sermon, Jesus tells us how to live our lives. Whereas the Ten Commandments were given to the Jews to tell them what to avoid, the Sermon of the Mount is given by Christ to tell what we are to do. With the Sermon on the Mount, the book ends.
The artwork in this picture book is simple and beautiful. Young children especially will be taken with the drawings of the sheep, the shepherds and the angels. All of the art invites readers to savor this event. And this is how it should be: for on this day a Savior was born to redeem the world.
You will have a very pleasurable time reading this book with the younger members of your family. Of course you can enjoy it by yourself as well. So if you want to teach the younger members of your family about the birth of Jesus, check out this comforting, lovely book. You can tell that Cynthia Rylant has a deep love for Christ and all of the events surrounding the Incarnation. I hope this title gives you as much pleasure as it has given me. Merry Christmas!
