Storytellers often tell the story of Christ’s birth by
inserting a fictional character with whom readers
can identify. While this character is usually a little
boy, Carey Morning’s The Shepherd Girl of Bethlehem
(Kregel), follows a little girl. “Her entry into that
sacred space brings a feminine element into the
picture,” which, Morning says, aside from Mary, “is
traditionally all male.”
Illustrated by Alan Mark, the book weaves the story
of a girl whose father leaves his flock one night in the
nativity story. “Having the audacity and courage to
follow the father through the darkness where she
isn’t meant to be brings the little girl to the most
precious place.”