Review of eBook

The Christmas story told with a combination of gorgeous, full-page illustrations, the Gospel text, and historical, biological, and geographic about Israel at the time of the birth of Jesus.

The target audience for this amazing, full-color book is the young reader, ages four through eight, but readers of all ages are certain to appreciate the added facts about Israel at the time of Jesus’s birth and relevant gospel texts. These all work together to strengthen the reader’s understanding of the Christmas story within the context of the world at that time. An exquisite book with an inspiring story sure to strengthen the reader’s faith.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Zonderkidz and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#TheWondersoftheFirstChristmas #NetGalley

A nice, basic book about the Biblical Christmas story. I appreciate the little helpful historical details included; such as word meanings, translations, cultural context, etc. Some of the info feels a little speculative, and could be confusing to young kids who are just hearing the Christmas story for the first time. But overall its a good book to use as an intro to the Biblical focus of Christmas and Jesus's birth. Most of the illustrations are good, a few are so-so. The map at the end is great-- so many kids books don't have this and its so helpful!

READ - 5:38 PM 7/9/2025 --THIS IS A PRELIMINARY REVIEW, PENDING CORRECTION OF FACTUAL ERROR P.9-- NOTE; THE STAR RATING BELOW WILL *N*O*T* BE PUBLISHED. See notes. I would be delighted to review a revised edition for the 5* rating I believe it deserves.

Started reading as soon as I downloaded. I've had a problem with thorium every time I've tried to use it. Although I was successfully able to read the beautifully illustrated story, when I tried to highlight and use annotations, I ran into a dead end. I sent notes to myself (below) by dictating into my phone.
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The following comments are for the publisher:
P. 9 - QUERY: Are donkeys the ancestor of the African wild ass? AI REPLY: "No, it is the other way around: the African wild ass is the ancestor of the domestic donkey." PLEASE FIX!!!
P. 13 - The illustrations are Charming but I'm afraid I have a problem with a half-inch crew cut on the Christ Child, who appears to be a toddler rather than a newborn.
P. 19 - The illustration of the Christ Child on page 19 is more likely, although the child looks Native American rather than Judaic; and again, rather a lot of hair for a newborn.
PP? - [Maps at the end] LOVED the maps, but a third showing the whole region, to illustrate the locations of Israel versus Egypt would be useful. Also, regarding The Wise Men, traditional pageantry has the wise men showing up at the manger in storytelling rather than historic technique. Depending on the age group this is aimed at, the quibbling about time of arrival might be confusing. It might make more sense for younger children to have the traditional presentation, with footnotes or afterword explaining, as with definitions of stable and manger, the reality of the era, translated into images a modern child could understand.
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Potential review: "A charmingly told story, beautifully illustrated. I loved the maps showing Egypt and Israel as well. Lots to discuss with your children."
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My initial note, for your amusement (capitalization courtesy of my phone's AI): The traditional Pageantry , of course, has the wise men showing up at the manger , and depending on the age This is Aimed at, The Quibbling about Time of arrival Might be Confusing.

What an incredible book. The illustrations are great and the story is so good. I love the story of Jesus being born and in this book I love how there are side note descriptions continually through the book. I highly recommend it!!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. I will be purchasing it for me and my church.

I thought this was a wonderful book! The artwork is beautiful and was wonderfully rendered. The artwork makes this story even more special. This is a lovely book and a great addition to the telling of the nativity. It's written in a way that children can understand it and in a more modern way of telling the story.I appreciated the side notes explaining certain aspects of the passages on the page. This helps clarify things, as our modern view can be very different from that time period. I definitely recommend it!

What a beautiful book that tells the true story of Jesus’ birth with information from the Bible. The illustrations are gorgeous . The extra added information at the bottom of pages is insightful and historical. Absolutely a beautiful and well written book.!
Thank you NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

The Wonders of the First Christmas was the sweetest book. The illustrations were beautiful and I loved the historical context given for the events surrounding Jesus' birth. This would be a great book for Christmas or anytime of year to spark a conversation about the gift of Jesus.

I love when stories are presented with fun facts as well, my kids always enjoy learning that way. I liked the focus on God’s plan always being fulfilled. I also appreciated that this Nativity story was not white-washed in the illustrations.

This an exquisite book with a delightful retelling of the Nativity story, accompanied with beautiful pictures. For the younger children, the story is straight-forward and endearing. For older children, the accompanying explanations add another dimension to the familiar tale. This would be a wonderful addition to any library.

This book tells the story of the nativity--from Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem all the way through to the flight to Egypt. On nearly every page--as the story is told--the book gives contextual pieces of information--like why all the inns were full or how the stable might have actually been hewn out of stone, etc. It is a nice, informative addition to your Advent/Christmas collection. It is aimed at 4 to 8 year olds, but I think it's mostly for older kis (maybe 7-8). I'm only giving it 3 stars for two reasons:
1. While I like that they slowly gave information as they told the story and when it was most pertinent, the blocks with information broke up the story. It would have been better to either include the whole story as an intro and THEN list all the facts, or to just have had the information (history, etc.) in the book. The book did not really get into archaeology (they mention artifacts from the Great Pyramids once, but it's not really directly related to the Nativity Story), and I don't remember reading anything about art....maybe they mean the book's illustrations?
2. I thought this book could be MORE. The *idea* of a book going through the history, archaeology, and art behind the Nativity Story is a fascinating one (and indeed, it is the reason I requested the ARC), but this is not the book I expected at all.

The Wonders of the First Christmas will be published October 7, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley, Zonderkidz, and Andy McGuire for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Wonders of the First Christmas
by Andy McGuire

The Wonders of the First Christmas was a delightful Christmas story. I especially liked the emphasis on all the actions being part of "God's plan". The illustrations were eye-catching and very life-like. They added to the warmth to the story. The text was well researched, and flowed nicely. It hit all of the important points, and it is Bible based.

The side-bar information, which was located on almost every page, was extremely informative and makes for great conversations. The book can be read without them, however, so that the storyline isn't interrupted and it flows better. The reader has the option of reading the story with or without the side-bars.

I'm sure this book will become a yearly tradition in my household. I can imagine reading it to my grandchildren amongst mugs of hot chocolate and sweet Christmas cookies . . .

A lovely, serious picture book about the birth of Jesus and the visits by the three wise men and shepherds. Along the way, the book includes vignettes that tell what the historical context may have been. This is a good book for older Christian readers who want to learn more about biblical history.

Really sweet & inspiring children's book for a Christian-based Christmas. This picture book goes through the biblical story of Mary & Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds, and the wise men. I loved how this one included historical elements & research throughout each stage of the story, written in a way that children can understand.

My only complaint is that visually, the words are small on the page compared to the huge illustrated pictures. But overall, this is a great book for any Christian family with young children to read during the holidays!

I enjoyed how educational this was. Rather than just telling the story of Jesus, it included things like what carpenter meant at the time, who the Roman’s were, commons types of sheep, etc. My favorite aspect of this book is that there’s a lot of distinctions for what is commonly believed in Christianity but isn’t outright said in the Bible (like Mary riding a donkey, the Wise Men riding camels, etc.)

This book is much more than it leads on to be, and the art is adorable.

This is an excellent addition to the many books about the Christmas Nativity.
A story well known and much loved by children from their earliest participation in plays at nursery and school. Parents well accustomed to making costumes for their kids as shepherds and magi. Of course pressure is placed on the accepted tale and the need to include all the class; not everyone can be Mary or Joseph. We had Carol singers one year and a full menagerie of animals another time.

Happily here is a book that is well researched and attempts to put the wonder and magic back into the story of the birth of Jesus. In additional it is presented as an educational account to bring interesting facts and archeological understanding to these historical events.

In the process there is an encounter with the familiar with the additional depth of biblical prophecy and explanation of the principle elements of the account. Bringing clarity to the use of a “stable/inn” and “manger” and informative expansion of the supporting cast. Explaining Angels, Sheep and Donkeys and placing the story in a physical and historical setting.

I particularly liked the details around “carpentry” suggesting the records reveal the work was with stone in building, rather than wood and assembly of ‘flat-packs’.

This kind of in depth educational presentation will be gobbled up by your own children who like nothing better than learning new facts and bringing fresh detail to this wonderful and inspirational story of God’s love and plans at work.