Author: Anthony DeStefano
Illustrated: Mark Elliott
Published: Harvest House
Age Range: 4 – 8
I eagerly anticipated reviewing this book by Catholic children’s writer, Anthony De Stefano. Published in 2010, this is one of his older books, but it is still a beautiful children’s book to enjoy with the children in your life. The basic premise is that a young boy is looking into the night sky, trying to find the Christmas star. From there, his father tells him the tale of the Little Star of Christmas.
As with DeStefano’s other books, this one is a lush and beautifully produced hard cover story book. Soft golden light bathes the human characters in the story, evoking thoughts of warm, firelit nights. The illustrations have been carefully crafted, and the different characters of the stars are also cleverly depicted.
Children will relate to Little Star who is always overlooked by everyone. But Little Star has a special purpose. He is inspired to shine as brightly as he possibly can in order to keep the newborn baby Jesus warm in an otherwise dark and drafty stable. But Little Star gets carried away with himself, and completely burns himself out by morning. That’s a bit sad, actually. But the young boy in this story is delighted to hear that the Christmas Star on top of every Christmas Tree is placed there to remind us of the important job that Little Star once fulfilled on Christmas day when Jesus was born.
It’s a clever story that reminds children that even the littlest and most overlooked of us can have a very important part to play. Children will be reminded about the real story of Christmas, as they see illustrations of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus being turned away from the inn and forced to shelter in a stable. This is a worthwhile addition to your collection of Christian Christmas story books for children. As more and more children’s picture books are removing Christ from Christmas stories, it is indeed important to ensure that your children have plenty of books on hand that make reference to Jesus and the true story of Christmas. I recommend this one!
You can purchase Little Star from Amazon HERE.