The innkeeper and his wife settle down to sleep after a hectic day, but a stream of visitors keep showing up, asking for Mary and Joseph. 'Round the back!' the innkeeper shouts, grumpily!
Eventually, desperate for sleep, he flies into a rage and goes to see what all the fuss is about: it sounds like some kind of party out in the stable! But as soon as he sees newborn baby Jesus, the innkeeper softens and joins in the celebration.
See below for the musical.
Everyone will adore Jesus’ Christmas Party, a delightful retelling of the nativity through the eyes of the cross innkeeper whose sleep is disturbed by unexpected visitors, a shining light and loud singing in the sky…
Today
The funniest, most endearing version of the nativity story for many years…Jaded infant teachers could brighten things up b doing it as a play
Sunday Times (Susan Hill)
The best children’s book I’ve seen.
Bookseller
Witty, succinct, with lively pen-and-wash illustrations.
Independent on Sunday
Magical…the pictures are reminiscent of James Thurber with a dash of Frank Bristow.
TES
Funny, robust yet reverent.
Books for Your Children
An inspired interpretation of the Christmas story with special appeal to the under-fives.
Under Five
Christmas book of the year. Simultaneously funny and reverent.
Glasgow Herald
The funniest Christmas story ever.
The Oxford Times
Hilarious…the sparsely drawn pictures brim over with exuberance and humour.
Child Education Book of the Month
Superbly illustrated, this books is different from others. Jesus’ Christmas Party will be a party all the children will want to attend again and again.
Early Years Educator
A very entertaining nativity musical, 'Jesus' Christmas Party' has huge child-appeal. The show is lively, funny and very easy to direct, with songs that almost teach themselves! Two versions of the script are included,
6 songs, 1 trad. carol - approx 25 mins
age guide 5 to 10 (includes 2 scripts - 5 to 7 yrs & 7 to 10 yrs)
Jesus' Christmas Party' is fantastic - easily the best infant production we've ever done. The children were very motivated by the wonderful songs, which we'll definitely be using again, especially 'Shine Away'. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show.
T Clarke, Deputy Headteacher, Cornwall.
Jesus worked hard to make the world beautiful. He performed miracles, told fabulous stories - all for free - and generally spent his time spreading joy and light around the world. A tiring business, as Jesus had to admit when, one day, he had trouble getting out of bed. And worse - the miracles start to go wrong!
But help is at hand. 'Take the day off, Jesus,' said the doctor. 'Relax. Have some fun!'
So Jesus had some fun - but was it worth it? Dad, as usual, has the answer!
Performing miracles, telling parables, general do-gooding…no wonder Jesus is suffering from physical and mental exhaustion. When his doctor advises a day off "to relax and have fun"… so he does! A funny story with – as you might expect – a positive, feel-good message.
Junior Magazine
A jolly book with cartoon style illustrations. It has a lovely lesson in it, that when people take a rest it does them good.
Books for Keeps
Nicholas Allan enthralled with Jesus’ Christmas Party. He’s done it all again with Jesus’ Day Off.
National Childbirth Trust
My dad’s the best…he’s just not like the rest!
He’s not the best singer, or dancer, or cook!
But he’s brilliant at piggybacks, and at telling stories…and at just being MY DAD.
A celebration of dads everywhere, from the warm and witty pen of bestselling author-illustrator Nicholas Allan.
One of my favourite picture books authors and one who has bought us much joy with some excellent books in recent years. His warm-hearted approach and perfectly positioned sense of humour never fails to hit the mark - and this superb celebration of dads is brilliant to share. Every dad is different; every dad is special. This dad can't sing like a pop star or cook like a chef...but, he can help with tricky homework, tell amazing bedtime stories and give the best piggybacks! Find out what else makes dads the best in this special celebration of fathers everywhere! The super illustrations are brimful of joy, humour and love and perfectly complement the flowing rhyming text.
PARENTS IN TOUCH