A mother tells her daughter the story of Christmas. The daughter pictures it happening right in their own stable. The illustrations remain beautiful although a better paper quality would make them even more vibrant for today's readers. ( )

A mother takes her daughter on her knee before the fire and tells her of the first Christmas in this simple but perceptive holiday story from the pen of Astrid Lindgren. The story of that first Christmas is set "long ago and far away," but this is something of which the child knows nothing. "She knew only their own farm and a few yesterdays. And so as her mother spoke, the child saw everything as if it were hapening in their own stable. Perhaps even now." As the mother proceeds to unfold the Nativity Story in simple and direct language, her daughter imagines it all, giving it a distinctly Swedish cast in her mind...

Originally published in Sweden in 1961 as Jul i stallet, this lovely picture-book captures an important aspect of the Christmas story - of all stories, really - that every person interprets what they hear in light of their own personal and individual experience. Children in particular, having less life experience than their elders, will use what they know and what experience they do have, to make sense of what they are told. In the case of the girl in the story, it is rural Sweden which informs her vision of the Christmas narrative. Lindgren, ever a champion of the dignity of the child, demonstrates that this is both natural and beneficial, giving the tale an immediacy and meaning for the girl that would have otherwise been lacking. Reading Christmas In the Stable yesterday was a distinct pleasure, both from a textual and an aesthetic standpoint, as the accompanying artwork by illustrator Harald Wiberg, who also worked on Lindgren's The Tomten and The Tomten and the Fox, is luminously beautiful. The use of light here is outstanding, and every scene had me stopping, poring over the page, rereading that bit of text, and then poring over the page again. Favorites would have to be the initial scene, in which the mother holds her daughter on her lap:



And the one in which the shepherds watch the Baby Jesus in the stable:



Simply beautiful! Recommended most strongly to Harald Wiberg fans, and to anyone looking for beautiful retellings of the Nativity, in which the story is transformed according to the vision of the audience. ( )

I liked this book for many different reasons. I liked that this book was told and not being read. The book begins with a mother and son who are sitting by a fireplace and the son wants to learn about Christmas. The mother tells the story of when baby Jesus was born. The language of this story is clear and simple. The author does not use very descriptive language. The author is trying to portray the story of how baby Jesus was born. The illustrations are very detailed and enhance the text. The big idea or message of this story is to pass down the story of how baby Jesus was born. This story is one of the many that teach children about different cultures and how holidays were created. I liked this book because it was simple and the message was to the point.