New Traditions: Little Star

I absolutely love traditions! (Perhaps that is a reason I dearly love the Catholic Church? Me thinks it's a possibility!) I love taking a part in them and even hearing of other people's traditions. Maybe I enjoy traditions so much because they have a sense of familiarity and for those old generational traditions it's kind of neat to take part in the same thing that someone long ago participated in.

One of the reasons I get so excited for Christmas is because there are a lot of fun traditions that take place during this time. If a certain tradition isn't upheld I get a little upset (for example, I pouted last year when Midnight Mass was cancelled due to a massive blizzard and this year I expressed my shock and disbelief when my mom informed me that my hometown had cancelled its annual Christmas parade, even though it has been years since I've gone.)

I spent a couple weeks at my mom's house to help her out after her heart procedure. While I was there I helped her decorate for Christmas. We put up the tree and the next step was to get out all my old holiday stuffed animals that I have collected since I was probably about four years old. However, my mom came up from the basement with a "bad news" look on her face. The sack of stuff animals had somehow gotten wet and a lot of them had a thick coat of mold and mildew. Some of them we were able to save, but one cherished item- my Christmas Muppet Baby Miss Piggy from McDonald's had perished. I thought that I would have been devastated and run to the computer to find another one on Ebay, but to my surprise I wasn't all that upset.

Rest in peace, dear Miss Piggy.

I think part of the reason I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I would be was because I had plenty of other stuffed animals and traditions to enjoy, plus I felt it was time to move on from some of the traditions of my childhood and focus on traditions for my own little growing family.

Last year was Ryan's and my very first Christmas as man and wife. I thought we'd start a whole plethera of brand new traditions, but we've mostly borrowed/compromised from our own families. I haven't been able to think of anything fun and new. I figured Joe is still too young to start traditions with him. That was my thinking until I got the wonderful opportunity to review the new children's book by Anthony DeStefano called Little Star.

I was thrilled to receive this copy since I am a huge fan of DeStefano's writing. You may have read his A Travel Guide to Heaven and Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To.

Little Star starts off by a little boy asking his father about the Christmas star. The father proceeds to tell him the story of Little Star. All the stars in the heavens were excited because they hear a new king was to be born. Each star was hoping they would be the one to shine the brightest when this baby was finally born. Little Star was the smallest star in the sky and often ignored. He figured he didn't stand a chance to be able to shine for the new king.

When Jesus is born, the stars are confused because this mighty king was born in a lowly stable. Only Little Star is able to humble himself and understand the true meaning of Jesus' message. He burns bright to keep baby Jesus warm and in doing so, burns himself out. Even though Little Star is gone from the sky, we still honor him by putting up stars on our Christmas tree.

I absolutely loved this book. It's a unique take on the story of the Nativity of Christ. DeStefano brilliantly portrays the Gospel message of Jesus coming to save all of mankind- even the poorest of the poor and that even the littlest being can make a huge difference. He writes this story in a way that children can understand the message of our Savior and in a way that adults can reflect on.

Mark Elliott illustrates this book and the pictures are absolutely beautiful! They aren't too "cartoon-y" so adults can appreciate their beauty, but at the same time children can enjoy them as well.

If you'd like to hear the story and see some of the illustrations, here is a YouTube video of Pat Boone reading Little Star.



I think I've found a new Christmas tradition for our family. I hope Joe and our future children will look forward to reading this story year after year. I highly recommend this wonderful children's book for your own family. Maybe it can be a new tradition for you too!