Title: The First Christmas Day Trilogy
Author: David Jonathan Bradley
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-4817-5640-2
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Pages: 44
Reviewed by: Beth Adams

Read Book Review

The minutia of detail about the origin of these three tales gives The First Christmas Day
Trilogy an authenticity unlike fables surrounding the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
and the Christmas star shining in the sky.

Author David Jonathan Bradley begins by telling readers about the opening a
mysterious container by two sisters. After running an antique shop for about 50 years,
the container, bought from an old Jewish man needing money, wound up not being
bought by any customers over the decades. However, at the division of the remaining
items when liquidating the business, both of the sisters wanted this odd ceramic jug. As
they quibbled and tugged at the jug, the item dropped to the floor and broke open,
revealing an ancient Hebrew document. The sisters took this to a museum in Frankfort,
Germany to have a historian interpret the document; hence began the tales which
followed.

The first story is “The Innkeeper’s Son,” which introduces us to a young lad wishing to
have more time with his father, the proprietor of an Inn. The father needed to spend
countless hours catering to the demands of his guests, and wasn’t able to spend much
time with his wife and two boys. So, Tobias, the older son, went to see his father who
was too busy to even be with him, but when Tobias asked if there was any job he could
do to help out, his father said yes, there is. The father just bought a run-down stable
behind the Inn, and asked Tobias to go up there, fix the gate, mend the rock walls, and
lay down fresh hay for the animals. This took Tobias about a week to accomplish.

One-night, a traveling-weary man, with his pregnant wife came to the inn seeking
shelter. The innkeeper had no vacancies in the main house, but as a glancing thought
told the couple they could sleep in the stable for free. That star-filled evening, the lady,
Mary, gave birth to the new King, Jesus the Christ.

The next fable is titled “The Blind Lamb,” which is quite a unique tale of an unknown
miracle. A personified sheep births 3 lambs, one being blind. As the story progresses,
the blind lamb cuddles up to baby Jesus, providing warmth and tenderness to the newborn infant. Low-and-behold, the lamb is miraculously given the gift of sight. An
indication of the power of Jesus who is born.

The third fable titled, “The Gift,” is a bit more abstract. The gathering of angels, on the
clouds above the nativity scene, watch the goings on below. One angel takes her halo
and surrounds a rock, causing it to shine. The other angels tell her that God will not be
happy with the giving of the most precious gift an angel has, that of its halo. Yet, with
the quoting of Bible prayers, Glory to God in the Highest, the gift becomes the shining
star in the evening sky.

Each of these are wonderfully narrated by the author’s written voice, and captivating in
detail and description. It is a treasure of a book which can be enjoyed over-and-over by
each of the growing generations of a family. The First Christmas Day Trilogy falls into
the genre of heritage Christmas books; one which will be cherished by all those
fortunate to have it in their family library.