Christmas Story in Biblical Texts and Art

The Nativity: From the Gospels of Matthew and Mark , Ruth Sanderson

(Eerdmans, 2011), hb., 28 pp.

Ages 5+

Part of our Christmas tradition is reading together the biblical account on Christmas morning while our younger children act out what is read with the nativity set. This year we used this book for that reading.

The text of the book comes directly from Matthew and Luke. There is no further elaboration. The books strength comes from placing together the accounts of both gospels and in nice illustrations by Ruth Sanderson which are done in such a way as to recall medieval art. This “old” feel of the art contributes to a sense of reading these texts along with the church through the ages.

We really appreciated the art work, sense of history, and he gathering of the texts. This will become a fixture in  our Christmas celebration.