Add a New Christmas Book to your Holiday Traditions - 'If He Had Not Come' Book Review

Get into your cozy, Christmas Eve pajamas, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and nuzzle in to hear a story that will become a family favorite for years to come. I was so happy to have the chance to review a fairly new Christmas book from David Nicholson. The story is entitled, If He Had Not Come. I received it as part of the Book Look for Bloggers program in exchange for my honest review.



I couldn't help but notice that the book has an "It's a Wonderful Life" kind of feel to it, only it focuses on the birth of Christ. It is a re-introduction of a story that was originally written in the 1930's.

This sweet, cheerful, happy and bright new addition to your Christmas book collection is intended for children 6 years of age and older, and sells as a hardcover print version or an e-book.

...Let me just say!  We've started a new Christmas Eve tradition at our house - Reading this book... It's even thought-provoking and enjoyable for my oldest, teen.

I sat down to read this book cover-to-cover before sharing it with my kiddos. I was delighted to discover that it was not just another cutesy Santa tale, but is a very inspirational story that can be used for light-hearted Christmas Eve storytelling, or for really heart-searing, in-depth discussion about what Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection means to us as Christians, today.

The story is about a little boy who has a dream right before Christmas. In his dream, he finds himself inside a world where Jesus had never come. Very much like It's a Wonderful Life, or A Christmas Carole, the boy is horrified to discover all the things about life that he has come to take for granted no longer exist without the coming of Love/Christ. Without giving away each and every encounter, because believe me you will want to read it to discover these details yourself, I will say that some of the "a world without Christ in it" encounters surprised me and made me think how the love of Christ spirals into every aspect of our lives and becomes the threads that are woven throughout the fabric of our lives. Without this reason to love, there is no reason to have a church, an orphanage, or any place that helps people in the name of Love.

The words of the story are not the only thing that makes this book one that you will want to make part of your family's holiday traditions. The story is also illustrated so beautifully, with large full-page color pictures on the opposite page of each set of words. It makes it really easy to hold up and read for several kids to see, or to snuggle one little child in your lap and turn the pages, pointing out parts of the story inside each new illustration to re-iterate the words as you read along to a child, wide-eyed with wonder.



But, wait! There's more!  It's more than just another kids Christmas story book. Keep turning those pages. At the end of the book, there is a list of discussion questions, and then when you turn the page, there is a set of questions to help your kids dig even deeper. I found these to be an especially helpful option to use with my older two, who are teens.

My Favorite Christmas Book

Fa la la la la la la la la! It's Christmas time which for my homeschool means a slowed pace of more casual learning - Along with, hopefully, some fun!

As part of this learning, we bring up the Christmas movies and put up decorations and begin to make holiday treats, wrap presents and get a glow in the air of excitement and anticipation.

We also have a host of Christmas books that are part of our traditions.

We have children's books that tell the account of Jesus' birth. As my children have grown, we have had several books in several different formats, from toddler board books to reading he pure passage straight out of the Bible.

But, one of my all-time favorite books is The Advent Jesse Tree Devotions for Children and Adults to Prepare for the Coming of the Christ Child at Christmas by Dean M. Lambert.

The book ties in the prophecies from the Old Testament with the fulfillment of prophecies through the birth of Christ.

Each day of Advent, the first 24 days in December, the book describes the meaning behind a token ornament for the day.  It has a short devotion for smaller kids and a longer one for older kids and adults.  As you go through the process of reading the devotions and putting each day's ornament onto the tree, you begin to see first-hand how the Bible completes itself as prophesies of the coming of Jesus take place.

I have always wanted to do a better job keeping up on the devotions and actually make our own ornaments, but over the years I have picked up a few at thrift stores here and there instead.

To get an idea of an abbreviated form of the book, visit my individual Jesse Tree posts here.  Unfortunately, the magic of the internet has put the posts out of order, but you can scroll through to find the appropriate day and follow along with your own Jesse Tree..