THE WISE MEN WHO FOUND CHRISTMAS

This picture book offers a retelling of the Three Wise Men’s journey to visit the newborn Jesus.

Over the Arabian city of Petra, a great star appears in the night sky. The elder Melchior recalls a Jewish prophecy that the star is a harbinger of a great king’s birth. Consulting with his younger peers Balthasar and Casper, Melchior takes this news to Nabatea’s ruler. The king, fearful of insulting the cruel monarch Herod, who apparently has welcomed a new prince, sends the three men to Judea with tributes representing their land’s greatest riches: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And so the Magi begin their journey to greet Jesus, following the “moving star blazing overhead” and finding the newborn king in a small, sparse home. Arroyo’s book seeks to strip the Magi story of the “fictional embellishments” the tale has gained over time, returning the classic Christmas story to a more biblical, historical Bethlehem. These men are not majestic kings from Persia but theologians and star readers bound by the period’s politics. Le Feyer’s Magi are a triumph of representation, a far cry from the usual bland Nativity scenes, pulling beautiful, accurate features and diverse skin tones from the cultural melting pot of Nabatea and Judea. The illustrator makes heavy use of shadows, but the pictures never seem cold or dark. Light, be it from a candle, a star, or the divine, brightens and inspires with the awe of the season.

A wondrous, historically grounded Christmas story with vivid images.