TINY BABY JESUS

This tender Nativity story begins with the birth of Jesus and ends with the Holy Family leaving the stable. In succeeding pages, a patterned text focuses on one aspect of the baby (his fingers or mouth, for example) and then shows Jesus as an adult using his fingers as a carpenter or his mouth in speaking and teaching. The rhyming text is gentle and soothing, even while showing the adult Jesus at the Last Supper and in the Garden of Gethsemane. The poetic story will be accessible to very young children, though they will need some assistance from an adult in understanding the nonlinear structure of the text. Noonan’s illustrations use soft colors that complement the style of the text, with many appealing views of Baby Jesus and his parents on the first Christmas Day. (Picture book/religion. 3-7)