The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (1988, Paperback, Reprint)

Every year a number of new books appear for the Christmas season, seeking to show new significance to old customs, or sometimes merely to put a contemporary story in a holiday context to stimulate sales. Most of those little books disappear from memory as quickly as the year's ornaments and greenery. This book is one whose value and impact seems to grow from year to year. It can be enjoyed by kids of most ages, and it holds the interest and challenges the thinking of adults. The book is worth reading again and again--privately and out loud. The audiobook is an excellent presentation. The movie adaptation, though sharing the limits of any visual interpretation of a piece of literature, is quite faithful to the facts and spirit of the story and has a particularly poignant wrap-up. Highly recommended!