Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Small Miracle by Peter Collington


A Small Miracle by Peter Collington, is hands-down the best, most magical, most amazing book that we've read this Christmas.  It has definitely made it into my top five Christmas books of all time.




A Small Miracle is a modern fairytale about an impoverished, elderly woman who uses her last bit of life to perform an act of kindness by restoring the church Nativity display to order after a vandal leaves it in disarray.   As a result, she is repaid by the recipients of her kindness in a most miraculous way.  When she collapses in the snow, the figures from the Creche come to life and rescue her!  




This tale awakens the imagination of readers of all ages by telling the story without words.  Instead this story is told using 96 miniature pictures--each worth at least a thousand words!





One thing I absolutely loved was how each creche figure stayed true to character:  Joseph (the carpenter) fixed the woman's broken planks in her floor, while Mary kept watch over her, holding her hand.  And I love how the three wise men trade in their gifts to buy the things that the woman needs.  And because this story is set in modern day, we are afforded this awesome picture of the wise men shopping in a grocery store.  Next time, I'm grocery shopping with my kids, I'm going to be looking around for little wise men on a mission!




Because the author has paid so much attention to detail in his artwork, there is so much meaning to be gleaned from the pages of this book.  In doing this, the author illustrates many of the things that Christ himself taught his disciples to do:  Feed to poor, lift up the hands that hang down, comfort those that stand in need of comfort.  I don't know what became of the gifts that the Magi brought to the Christ child, but I'd imagine that they were traded in the service of others in a very similar way.  


I love the joy on the woman's face when she wakens to find all of her items returned, and warm food on the stove.  I also love seeing the many tiny footprints leading away from her little home.




We enjoyed talking about this story with my children during Family Home Evening last night. I told them that although the characters in the book were little people, they could still do a lot of good things, and even though my kids are little, they can still do big things for others.  


The only downside to this book is that I don't own it.  I have it on loan from my local library.  When I went online this morning to make it my own, I found that it costs anywhere from $66 to $115!!  I guess that means it's out of print!  IF I ever come into some money, you can be sure I'll be buying this one!!  What an incredible book!


Sorry, no craft today...I'm busy making these:


and caring for three sick kids...
and getting ready to host tonight's RS cookie exchange!

10 comments:

  1. It always makes me SO sad to find a great book, one that I want to own (I'm very particular), and then have it be out of print or otherwise unavailable. So I am sad for you. :(

    I hope your kiddos get feeling better and the cookie exchange is a delicious success :)

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  2. Just reading your post gave me goose bumps. What a wonderful book! And your review was equally so.

    Now I want it, too. But boy, that is pricey!

    =)

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  3. What a beautiful book! Guess what? After some searching, I just discovered that the publisher (Random House) has it for sale on their website in hardcover for only $15.95, although it is back ordered so you might have to wait a while for it to come in. :)

    Here is the link:

    http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679887256

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  4. Thank you, Stephanie...I went to your link and tried to purchase it, but it said it's currently unavailable so they removed it from my cart!! I'll keep checking back though...thank you!

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  5. Oh, that one looks amazing. I will have to see if our library has it. If it is out of print, have you tried to look at used book stores?

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  6. We just discovered this book this year too. It is wonderful. My kids have loved pouring over the pictures. I too looked to see if we could add it to our collection and came to the same prices. I hope to find it somewhere for cheaper it is so worth having on the shelf!

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  7. this looks like a great book ... but way out of my price range. thanks for sharing.
    marie

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  8. Hi! Just post jumping through your blog and I came across this older post. Have you had a chance to get the book yet? I clicked on the amazon link you provided and found that the book is as low as $8 now. Just thought I'd pass that on to you and anyone else looking for it! Thanks for all of the great book suggestions you post.

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  9. Guess what? You can get it on Amazon much cheaper!

    I'm getting one!

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  10. Thanks, Pam, Yes it is NOW...but as of this writing last year this book was not in print. They came out with it again in paperback September 2011 and now it's like $7.99...but don't tell Sue, she bought it last year for a lot of money!:)

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