The school nativity play is something that always happens as Christmas. It is also something that never runs 100% perfectly, after all, the cast are all children (KS1 and KS2 – 5 to 11 year olds). With Christmas fast approaching, schools up and down the country will be preparing and rehearsing for their own Christmas show. The Christmas Show, written and illustrated by Rebecca Patterson, is about one such school play and an unexpected star of the show.
It will soon be Christmas and the local primary school will soon be putting on their Christmas show. Miss Bright has handed out all the parts, but one little boy hasn’t been paying attention (remind you of anyone?) and doesn’t know what part he is playing. He knows he isn’t one of the BIG parts, he knows that he isn’t the narrator, so what is he? He also knows that he isn’t playing the recorder or triangle and that he is meant to sing a bit, he just doesn’t remember learning a song. But he soon finds out what his part is when Miss Bright hands him a tea towel, no he is not drying dishes, but is a shepherd and Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a shepherd!
They practice for a long time (all afternoon in fact) and when it is time for the show, they all get ready. They get on stage and the show begins for all their waiting school friends, teachers, parents and family members. Except the shepherd sings in the wrong bit! Dances the wrong way and even forgets to leave the stage! But rather than get upset, he doesn’t mind as his granny was in the audience watching and she said that he was the best thing in it!
Overall, The Christmas Show is a humorous children’s picture book that children will laugh out loud with. It is a story that young children and their parents will easily be able to identify with.
The story is told the point of view of the little boy, a boy with a short attention span and the narrator of this story. It shows all the preparations for show, rehearsing and the anxieties before the show and of course the little boy doing his best to join in and getting things muddled up, making him the unexpected star of the show with the watching audience (just not with his classmates).
The story is fun and the bright and vivid illustrations, albeit a bit busy at times, help to visualise what is happening so that young readers can easily see the problems the little boy is having. The illustrations do a wonderful job of telling the story.
The Christmas Show is a fun Christmas-themed book that children will love, be able to relate to and how lots of laughs along the way. It captures the spirit of school plays brilliantly and that they don’t have to be perfect as the audience (especially family members) will love it. A story about doing your best and joining in.
Perfect for Christmas reading.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £6.99 (Paperback)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
