- powerful & palatable emotions of compassion & hope
- a boy and his mother hire a grumpy woodcarver to make a nativity set
- persistent kindness (the mother) and childlike innocence (the son) eventually bring warmth and joy into his life again
- convo: pipe smoking
- clean language
Type: picture book
Ages: 4-12
Author: Susan Wojciechowski
Illustrator: P.J. Lynch
Don’t be surprised if this becomes an instant classic for your family the first time you read it! The mother-son duo and Mr. Toomey have both experienced great loss, so they have a lot in common. Their emotions and conversations seem very realistic, making the story come that much more alive.
The tale is kept mostly secular besides the brief conversations about the nativity scenes. In the back of the book, the author writes how she believes there’s a “higher power” who “must have played a hand in creation.” The intentional vagueness is strange, but she obviously didn’t want to share details of her beliefs. Regardless, the story itself is wholesome and beautiful.