cover image The Christmas Story: 
The Brick Bible for Kids

The Christmas Story: The Brick Bible for Kids

Brendan Powell Smith. Skyhorse/Sky Pony, $12.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-62087-173-7

Smith (Noah’s Ark: The Brick Bible) retells another Bible story using Lego bricks, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with young Jesus and his parents settling in Nazareth. Each page contains a Lego illustration, with the author’s customized details (the three magi, for example, wear head coverings, and one sports a snowy-white beard), and a few lines of straightforward text. A preface by Rev. Wanda Lundy of New York Theological Seminary suggests ways for parents to discuss the tougher aspects of the story, such as Herod’s order to kill all children under the age of two (“Always be honest... simple and brief answers are perfectly adequate”). An activity at the end encourages rereading and attention to detail. An offbeat winner for Lego fans. Ages 3–6. (Nov.)