The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever the best Christmas book ever? It might just be. I know I prefer it to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. One reason why I do is because the book truly captures the getting-it moment, the moment when one realizes the true meaning of Christmas. A Christmas Carol may do an adequate job of "getting" the generosity of Christmas, but it is a Christ-less Christmas story. There is nothing in A Christmas Carol that would point you towards the real meaning of Christmas: the birth of a Savior. The Best Christmas Pageant does just that. And it doesn't sacrifice entertainment or humor. In fact, it is probably one of the funniest children's books ever. Here's how it opens:The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down toolhouse. The toolhouse burned right down to the ground, and I think that surprised the Herdmans. They set fire to things all the time, but that was the first time they managed to burn down a whole building. I guess it was an accident. I don't suppose they woke up that morning and said to one another, "Let's go burn down Fred Shoemaker's toolhouse"...but maybe they did. After all, it was a Saturday, and not much going on.There are six Herdmans in all: Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, and Gladys. The premise of this one is oh-so-simple: what if the yearly Christmas pageant was overrun with Herdmans? What if the WORST kids in town, possibly the WORST kids in the world, got the best roles in the Christmas pageant? What would it be like for the director(s)? What would it be like for the other kids? What would it be like for the audience? What no one was expecting was that the story itself would have an impact on the actors leading it to be THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER.It is narrated in the first person. I believe it is told from the perspective of the director's daughter. As I mentioned, it is hilarious and touching all at the same time. Though the 'touching' bit--the sentimental bit--is towards the very, very end. I loved this one. I've read it again and again and again and again. It is well worth reading every year or every other year. It has a just-right feel about it. I think it is true enough to life. It captures the familiarity of the Christmas story. Almost everyone knows the story backwards and forwards. Everyone knows it so very well that none of the characters consider it. They don't process it or absorb it. But the Herdmans. Well. They have NEVER heard it. They don't find it boring or irrelevant. They find it absorbing and interesting. The details, big and small, are fresh to them. They are thinking of the story in a fresh way, in a human way. Not in a been-raised-in-church-my-whole-life way. So it captures the DRAMA of the Christmas story in a fresh way. Readers get a behind-the-scenes look at someone seeing/hearing the story for the very first time. The Herdmans take nothing for granted, assume nothing. They have questions, dozens and dozens of questions. The book isn't overly preachy either. It isn't that someone reads the story the first time, and all six kids suddenly decide to pray a little prayer and get baptized. It is not like that at all. Yet I can't help but seeing the spirit working in this story.
What a fantastic, fantastic book.I'd never read it before. I hadn't see the play, or watched it. I had heard about it - a lot. I could tell you the story line.I remember hearing about this book when I was in 4th grade. Mrs. Blyler's class. She was having a conversation with other students about how good it was. They were shocked that I hadn't read it. That'd have been what,? 199...1? Yeah. 1991.Barbara Robinson really captured something about humanity, and love, and compassion in this book. -The essence of what Christmas - and Christianity are supposed to be.I imagine that's why this book resonated with so many - because the universal ideals of Christianity and the story of Christmas provide the perfect vehicle for the telling. (It's actually the first of 3 books - but this one currently has 17,083 *now 17,084* reviews, and 40 editions whereas the second book has 1,071 and 20, and the third book has 536 and 15. I'm not sure what goes into determining what makes a book a "classic" but I'm taking that into consideration when I put this one on my "classics" shelf and leave the others off - if I ever get around to reading them at all.)So, last night my wife talked me into starting it. We were going to read it out loud this holiday season. So I poured us each a glass of Moscato and got started. Only to finish reading the entire thing an hour and a half later.The book is hilarious. Laugh out loud funny. And I could relate to all of the characters - good and bad, young and old. "...I was always in the same grade as Imogene Herdman, and what I did was stay out of her way. It wasn't easy to stay out of her way. You couldn't do it if you were very pretty or very ugly, very smart or very dumb, or had anything unusual about you like red hair or double-jointed thumbs." "But if you were sort of a medium kid like me, and kept your mouth shut when the teacher said, 'Who can name all fifty states?' you had a pretty good chance to stay clear of Imogene."This passage says a lot: it speaks to the down-and-out. I remember having a student who failed a test. Bombed it. He got like... a 37%. The second lowest score in the class - maybe even the entire grade. But pity the kid in his class who got the 34. That kid had nothing going for him either. Bad home life, not so strong in the athletic department, the 37% was standard, so the bad attitude was understandable - although it didn't win him many friends... much like the Herdmans.It speaks to the bullied - being afraid to raise your hand because you don't want to be picked on. How many adults can remember words spoken decades ago which made them self-conscious about their freckles/nose/double-jointed thumbs... I've got plenty of students who don't want to stand out. ...I wonder if there's a bully in my class, because when I ask students to recite the 50 states... eh... nevermind...Maybe even more than speaking to the bullied, it speaks to those who witness bullying - maybe that's what that last paragraph is about. Blending in. Because as much as we don't like bullies - there's often a part of us saying *whew* glad I'm not THAT guy... What's that called? Diffusion of responsibility?I'd like to say it was the Moscato that got to me - or the fact that it was REALLY late... that's why I was tearing up a little at the end. ...Actually, that's what I will say. ...Moving on.
What do You think about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2005)?
I loved this book so much! At least one of my elementary teachers read this book aloud to my class and everyone absolutely loved it. And I know she was not the only teacher to read the book to her class that year. It's just such a great book for this time of year, teaching a great lesson to the readers and entertaining them also. The Herdmans are such a funny group of kids to read about and get to know. You do not like them in the beginning because they are all troublemakers, but then you grow to love them and want the best for them.The book does not have any illustrations in it, or at least the version I have does not. But it is a very easy read and does not use big words, so I think it would be a great transitional book for young readers. The lack of pictures in the book though is made up for by the front cover, which is hilarious. It depicts the youngest Herdman child as the Angel of the Lord Gabriel in the Christmas Pageant they put on. She looks a mess and is dirty and has her mouth wide open and a hilarious expression on her face, but she is dressed as an angel, halo and everything. This contrast is something that makes the cover picture, and the book as a whole, hilarious and loveable. The lesson this book teaches is to not judge someone before you get to know them and not to judge a book by its cover. It is taught in very easy to understand words and great events, so you don't even know you are learning. This is one of the reasons I think this book is so great. It is heartwarming and hilarious and great for this time of the year, or any time of the year.
—Gwen Martin
Reading it to my children for the first time ( for them, not me) and it's hard to say who's loving it more. Reading the last chapter tomorrow- bracing myself to cry.
—Jessica
This is definitely a quick read, yet wonderful nonetheless. I remember it from when Jennifer was a little girl and how much of an impression it made on me. It's about a family of six kids, new to town, who are true manifestations of unruly, stingy, dangerous, untrustworthy, etc, and how they impact a small town that is used to things going somewhat smoothly and normally. The kids don't do well academically but get promoted so the teacher won't be stuck next year with not only that child, but the next one coming up the ranks. There's a traditional way that the school does its annual Christmas pageant (I don't think schools do these anymore), but this year, it is all about to change. A transformation takes place amongst the six Herdman children who never heard of the Christmas story; and the students and parents are changed a bit as well. And as far as the reader goes, you'll have to check it out for yourself.
—Monty
