The Perfect Christmas Pageant

The Perfect Christmas Pageant by Joyce Meyer is a delightful and humorous story that deals with the issue of perfectionism.  Hayley Hippo has been asked to direct the annual Christmas pageant for the Everyday Zoo. Determined to make it perfect, she strives and strives to get everything just right. But the more she strives, the worse things get. One thing after another goes wrong until Hayley finally learns that Christmas isn't about getting things perfect. It's about Jesus in whose perfection we can rest.

What I Like:  This book is another in the Everyday Zoo series of books by Joyce Meyer. I like that it deals with perfectionism, a problem that besets young and old alike and that causes Christians to live in bondage. This book will help children learn early on that BEING precedes DOING, and that there is a huge difference between perfectionism and excellence. This book will bless not only children but their caregivers as well. The illustrations by Mary Sullivan are outstanding. They superbly convey the humorous points in the story and will delight the hearts of child--and childlike--readers.  I also liked that on some pages, the illustrations carried the story so that readers must study the illustrations to "read" the story.  This activity not only causes the reader to appreciate the illustrations more fully, but it also sharpens both visual and aural skills.

What I Dislike: The book's larger size may be a bit cumbersome for little hands, but certainly not a deterrent to purchasing it.
 
Overall Rating: Recommended

Age Appeal: 4-7

Publisher Info: Zonderkidz, 2013; ISBN: 031072354X; Hardcover, 40 pgs., $15.99.

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $10.99.

OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $11.51.