Review: The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

Title: The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving
Author: Dandi Daley Mackall
Illustrator: Richard Cowdrey
Pages: 32
ISBN: 978-0-310-73115-3
Publication Date: September 23rd, 2014

Synopsis:

In The Legend of St. Nicholas, the new artwork, created by Marley and Me illustrator, Richard Cowdrey, captivates audiences and tells the story of a young man named Nicholas, who was moved by the plight of the poor and needy. Nicholas spent his life secretly helping the poor all over the world, giving gifts on Christmas Eve to remind people of the greatest Gift of all, Jesus Christ. This gentle Christmas book introduces the original St. Nicholas and offers inspiration for readers to become cheerful givers themselves. The final pages in the book include fun Father Christmas traditions in other lands.

Review:
Christmas stories are a delight to me....as y'all might know by now. I love stories that weave the traditions of Christmas with their original sources to make things click with kids.

I was familiar with the story of St. Nicholas...yes it was through the shows of Santa Clause is Coming to Town and Veggies Tales St. Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving. What can I say, I love the classics and humor!

The illustrations of The Legend of St. Nicholas were beautiful. The colors were bright and captivating. I loved how it started out the story in the 40's/50's era with a little boy in a store listening to the Santa telling a story. There is just something about that time and Christmas together that just seem perfect. As we travel through the tale, the characters are drawn to fit the era of the story.

The story itself was nice to see. A boy who has grown up seeing people around him needing help, not knowing what to do, then when his friends are in need of help, he wants to with all of his heart. I enjoyed the story, the only small qualm I had with it, was the choppiness of the story in a few parts. It started off talking about Nicholas as one age then the next paragraph he is a new age with something else he is seeing. It confused me for a second in reading, but it smoothed out and had a wonderful lesson in it.

Christmas can be a time where it can be easy to be sucked up into the "I" and "Me" of everything. The rush of the Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving dinner is a prime example. If that is all that spoken of, it's not fun. Christmas is much more then that, and this book is good to point out that fact. Giving is the best gift of all and much more fulfilling then getting what you want.

Too Read
4 out of 5

About the Author & Illustrator:

Dandi Daley Mackall is the author of over 400 books and still can’t believe she gets to write for a living, helping children of all ages grow spiritually. She and her husband, Joe, both write from rural Ohio, where they’re blessed with three children and a variety of horses, dogs, and cats.




Richard Cowdrey’s favorite things to draw and paint are the things that reflect the awesomeness of God and His creation. From vast landscapes to the littlest bug on a leaf, Richard marvels at the beauty in the details. Richard's bestselling children's books include Bad Dog, Marley and A Very Marley Christmas.

Thank you to Zonderkidz, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.