Book Review: The Light of Christmas by Richard Paul Evans

“High in the mountains, where the clouds lie on the ground like great cotton balls, is the Christmas town of Noel.”

Each year the Keeper of the Flame chooses the person who gives “the truest gift of Christmas” to light the town torch. Alexander travels to town hoping he is chosen. When Alexander meets an old man in need of help outside the city gates, he risks getting shut out and missing the lighting of the torch.

Length: 32 pages
Read-Aloud age: 4+

LJR’s Thoughts on The Light of Christmas

Daniel Craig (no, not the James Bond actor) beautifully illustrates Richard Paul Evans story. The Light of Christmas has put itself among our favorite read-alouds this Christmas. Although Alexander doesn’t have much to give, he still holds out hope for being chosen.

The Light of Christmas does a great job of showing children to do the right thing, which oftentimes is the most challenging choice we make. The book provides several great topics for discussing scripture regarding generosity and the true meaning of Christmas. Some things obviously point away from scripture but are not enough to spit out the whole book. It’s a great story that brings the kind of opportunities you want to highlight Jesus as the reason for the season and is definitely worth the read this Christmas!

LJR Rating

Noteworthy for The Light of Christmas

In our usual LJR fashion, we try to find what Christian families may want to know about to address, skip, or dig deeper into. Take a look at what we found below. Our take on Discipleship Opportunities is at the bottom of the review.

At one point, we read the “truest gift of Christmas is the gift of self.” Even though the book clearly displays a great message of dying to self as well as loving your neighbor as yourself, the actual words make the above statement.
Alexander’s mom is sick and can’t travel with him and Alexander comes across an old man shivering in the snow outside of town. It’s pretty mild but sensitive kiddos may have questions or comments about these two spots.

Discipleship Opportunities for The Light of Christmas

Alexander finds an old man on his way into town and helps him. Discuss what the Bible says about the poor. Some places to start may be Leviticus 19:9, Proverbs 21:23, Proverbs 28:27, and 1 John 3:17-18.
When the people in the town line up with their gifts and offerings for the Keeper of the Flame, we can discuss the often quoted “to whom much is given, much will be required.” Ask your children what gifts they have and brainstorm ideas how they can use those gifts to serve the Lord.
The crowd thought the ornament made by the richest man in the city would be the truest gift of Christmas. What did the Keeper of the Flame declare as the “truest gift of Christmas”? As believers of Jesus Christ, what do we know to be the truest gift of Christmas? This may be a great time to read about the birth of Jesus in the gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 2:8-12.
Use the book’s statement of “the truest gift of Christmas is the gift of self” to also discuss what it means for us, as believers, to “die to self,” like we see in Matthew 16:24-25 as just one example.