Dedicated Review
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: March 30, 2013
By Carolyn Snelling
Hardcover: 68 pages
Age Range: 9-12
Publisher: Tate Publishing (April 16, 2013)
What to expect: Family, Adoption, Religion, Christmas, Bullying, Alcoholism
With Christmas as her anchor, Carolyn Snelling has created a chapter book that effortlessly covers many deep topics that are intertwined with the overall theme of how one family’s deep connection with God proves that anything is possible.
Snelling has set about to teach readers an important message: “…with God, all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27). She delivers this in an engaging and captivating method—The Mystery of the Christmas Star is mysterious yet tangible. On the day that Christine is packing away the family Christmas decorations, she discovers that a tiny white star has appeared on some of her toys. It is not long before Christine and her family realize that the stars are individual signs from God and each star connects their family to six different children, near and far. Throughout the tale, every star represents a short story in itself and the stories tackle complex matters such as, adoption, bullying, alcoholism, abuse, illness, and loss. Collectively, the stars and their individual accounts come full circle to tell one story, a story that richens the lives of Christine’s entire family, as well as the town people of Loving. There are black and white illustrations every couple of pages to keep children connected with the likeable characters and there are plenty of bookmarkable moments for those that are still reading in shorter intervals. The story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming and ends on a very uplifting note.
The greatest appeal will be for families that crave straightforward and satisfying stories and who believe in miracles and God—or, perhaps, families who are looking for a reason to believe. After all, Christmastime is a time for believing.
Add this book to your collection: The Mystery of the Christmas Stars
For more information, visit: www.mysterystars.com
Dedicated Reviews allow authors and illustrators to gain prompt visibility for their work. The author of this book paid for this non-biased review. Learn more …