Hello Readers,
Welcome to Day Five of The 12 Days of Books! 
All children can be wonderful and all children can be nightmares. In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, six nasty, manipulative children take over a church Christmas pageant.
The Herdman kids (Imogene, Claude, Ralph, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys) are a rough group. They engage in behavior such as smoking, drinking, shoplifting, swearing, and bullying little kids. When they show up to church and take over the annual Christmas pageant, some of the adults in the congregation resist their participation. The kids are given roles (despite the protests of some of the adults) and reinterpret the Christmas Story in a nonconventional way. Their interpretation is hilarious and forces the congregation (and the reader) to think differently about the Nativity.
This book contains the Christmas spirit. Even though there was push back from a small group of people about the Herdman’s participation, the church and pageant director opened their arms to a group of rowdy kids and showed them the love of Christ, the very one whose birth they are celebrating with their pageant.
Published in 1971, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is timeless. I remember reading this with my 6th grade class and laughing as our teacher did different voices for each of the Herdman kids. Do yourself a favor, get a copy of this book and enjoy it with a cup of cocoa this holiday season. You won’t regret it and will likely find yourself wanting to read it again next year.
Live, Love, Learn,
Candice & The Write Teacher(s)
PS – If you love the book (which you will), I recommend the 1983 movie as well.