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While we are loving the story, tonight we discovered that the book we received is missing 3 of the chapters. What a disappointment. Buyer beware.
I think this is the perfect book for Christmas. It takes you through towns and villages along the way. My family and I took turns reading a chapter a night. We had long conversations about the different places the travelers went. With each chapter, you pick up a new character, which plays a significant part in the birth of Christ. This is a great book for Advent.
Next year I shall spend the 400 Norwegian Kroner and bring that book here so we can read the words in English and EXPERIENCE the story from the richness of the Norwegian artist's perspective. Where were the pages with the little windows children could peek through every day.
I eagerly anticipated being a part of this daily event. Living in Norway I ordered this book so that my American grandchildren could enjoy the excitement and joy of this book together with their parents as a family journey through the advent season.
Where was the beautiful picture of the advent poster. What a major disappointment.
This is but a shadow of the Norwegian edition's illustrations and not engaging for the children. Where were the differing kinds of pages to key them into when the story was in the past or the future.
It is no wonder this book is not as enjoyable for American families as it is for the Norwegian ones.
The first year we were just trying to grasp the rudiments of the story. Our family started reading The Christmas Mystery about 5 years ago and it is now a very special Advent activity and a way to come together as a family in a busy season. While it is a bit confusing at first- the story moves backward through time and geography-it is so rich and has so many layers that it's absolutely worth reading. Now each reading reveals new layers of meaning - nuances that I didn't get at first. I would recommend it for children 8 and older, so that it holds their interest.
On about night 5 of this, that's when I found everyone asleep, from my grade school daughter all the way up to my husband. I knew it was bad when, upon reading this book aloud to my family one Christmas, I looked around to find every last one of them asleep -- and snoring. That was certainly the best thing about this book -- the funny memories it gave us from that night. We'd tried valiantly to give this book a serious go, as it came to us warmly recommended with the instructions to read it aloud each night before Christmas. Not only could we not follow the story, certain elements were downright irritating (dialogue, names) and it presented a mish mash of complicated little plots while at the same time seeming to go nowhere. But, alas, we had to abandon ship and read something else much more interesting, entertaining and Christmassy. Sorry.
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