Who built the stable where Jesus lay? Multiple Coretta Scott King Award–winner Ashley Bryan has a very good idea in this beautiful and moving new layer to the nativity story.

The boy looked in the infant’s eyes

And in his heart he knew

The babe would be a carpenter

He’d be a shepherd too.

This beautifully crafted picture book that envisions a young boy, a shepherd and carpenter both who, out of love and kindness, cleared the way for another shepherd and carpenter to be born on Christmas day. Told in gentle rhyme and illustrated with Ashley Bryan’s enormous talent, this is a picture book that captures the reason for the season in all its wonder and beauty, celebrating Christmas, the kindness of children, and the new hope born with each new baby.