Member Reviews

I love finding new Christmas books each year. I especially love it when the story is accompanied by music. This book is especially wonderful for Christians from all walks of life who believe in Christ. Witnesses of Christmas: A Musical Journey Through the Nativity of Jesus the Christ is the perfect book to celebrate the birth of Christ. If you want your family to remember the real reason why we celebrate Christmas, this book and the music is a perfect way to start your Christmas season. Jason Wright has done another beautiful job and I especially loved when he shared the real-life stories of people who have embraced Christlike attributes. I highly recommend this book to all people, especially those with children young and old.

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An inspirational book of scripture stories, lovely illustrations, and musical carols to tell the beautiful story of the Witnesses of Christmas. I truly enjoyed how this brought the spirit of Christmas and joy into my home. I love Christmas music and tying it into stories that tell of the Savior is very meaningful. This could be a new tradition every year. I don’t believe an e-book is the best Avenue for this book. I would recommend a hardcopy to be able to enjoy more fully, the beautiful pictures but also the music that could be played on a instrument. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Witnesses of Christmas by Jason F. Wright is a beautiful way to share the Christmas Story. Flowing between Bible Stories and Christmas Carols, it's a unique way to tell the Christmas Story to family and friends. A very beautiful way to help you get in the True Spirit of Christmas. Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

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A beautiful musical journey of Christ’s nativity and thinking about how we can become His witnesses by adopting Christlike attributes. It includes music and QR codes for videos that help tell the story. Such a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas with family and friends!

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Meaningful way to celebrate Christmas. The subtitle is “A Musical Journey Through the Nativity of Jesus the Christ.” This is a retelling of the stage performance “Joy to the World: A Sacred Celebration” by Jason F. Wright and Jenny Oaks Baker. It includes the script, sheet music, and QR codes for audio recordings to create a meaningful way for families to celebrate Christmas. The last section also includes five Christlike traits we can develop in ourselves – Benevolence, Forgiveness, Patience, Prayerfulness, and Faith.

I have other books that include nativity programs, so I was surprised how much I liked this book. The artwork is beautiful, and the words caused me to ponder and touched my heart. For example, “Forgiveness is surely among Christ’s most difficult attributes to adopt. He asks us to pray, we pray. He asks us to serve, we serve. But when He asks us to forgive…we often resist. Yet His forgiveness of us is endless...He’s paid for sins we haven’t even imagined yet.” (p 48) This would be a great new Christmas tradition and I look forward to trying it this year. Thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing for a temporary digital ARC to use for my review.

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A beautiful book for Christmas. I loved that it was divided into two parts. The first part was a program you could do with your family, neighborhood, friend group, church group etc. The second part was about how we can become better witnesses of Christ by taking upon us some of His attributes. It is a perfect way to celebrate the season.

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It’s hard to state an opinion about this book; I may have misunderstood what I was requesting to read. It seems like a Christmas musical maybe with some stories added after that. I was trying to read one of the stories and it just sort of ended before it was finished. Not helpful maybe, but that was my experience with this book.

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I enjoyed reading this and thinking more about Christ. This book is an adaptation of a musical/stage production that Jenny Oaks Baker & Family Four (her children) and Jason F. Wright started a few years ago. It is done from the prospective of a shepherd at the time of Christ.

I loved the simple but true messages and scriptures shared. And I love the music that was paired with the messages. The book has sheet music included of the songs as well as QR codes that you can scan and watch/listen to the music as performed by Jenny Oaks Baker and her family. Beautiful music!!!

The second half of the book focused on some of the attributes of Christ and encouraging us to find ways to develop and emulate those attributes, not just at Christmastime but always. I liked the short stories that were included to give examples of those attributes.

While I was reading this book, I kept thinking that it would be great to use for my family or to gather together with other families or even use it to inspire a bigger use and production of it to invite the Spirit of Christ(mas) into all of our hearts. You could use the whole thing or just do a narration/song a night. However you use it, I think it will be enjoyed by many. I'm excited to try it with my family.

Content: Clean. A book about Christ and Christmas. There are scriptures used and referenced throughout the book.

I received a copy from the publisher, Shadow Mountain Publishing, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

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A beautifully illustrated collection that is perfect to be a part of your family’s yearly Christmas tradition.

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"Witnesses of Christmas" is a read-along story for you to enjoy with your family while using the included sheet music and QR codes to listen/sing the accompanying songs. The story follows a shepherd named, David, who tells the story of the first Christmas through his eyes. At the end, he reveals that he does not exist but is merely the author in all of us trying to remember and understand this special story. The second section of the book is formatted to have you ponder on five attributes. Attributes that we should attempt to portray in our everyday lives, not just at Christmas.

Overall, the book had lovely artwork, the sheet music is a wonderful addition and this would make for a fun family or large gathering narrative. However, I found the second half a little preachy and took away the "Christmas" feeling of the first half. The 'no David' reveal was a bit disheartening and while intended to spark awareness of our own role in this re-telling, it felt empty and I don't think children would quite understand. I would personally skip that part. A very nice Christmas story if you are looking for a narrative or some soul searching for Christmas.

I gave three stars because I could not get any of the QR codes to work. The sent me to the founding page for this book. Maybe they will be available when it is published? Will update if possible.

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The book is two parts. The first is an adaption of a narration for a stage and music production called Joy to the World: A Sacred Celebration. The narration is written by Jason F. Wright and is told from the POV of a shepherd on the night of the nativity. There is traditional Christmas songs that are included in the book. There is also QR codes link to music provided by Jenny Oakes Baker (a renowned violinist) & Family Four. This section also includes section of Luke for the Nativity.

The second half of the book suggest seeking to have attributes of Christ. Specifically; benevolence, forgiveness, patience, prayerfulness and faith. Again words by Wright and QU code links but this time without the music for playing on the piano.

I like the music of Jenny Oakes Baker and have seen her perform live. The QR Codes took me to her website and I could link to Spotify. I’m not sure if when the book is released if that will be the same or if there will be video performance. I see this as the kind of book a person or family could pull out year after year as part of their own Christmas celebration. The illustration included in the first half also enhance the story being told. The second half is uplifting but the stories included aren't’ something I would need to read again and again like I would the nativity.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for an ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving a voluntary review.

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Just delightful! I love Christmas and I love music! This combines the both effortlessly. it includes stories, song lyrics and sheet music! This book is done with Jenny Oaks Baker and I adore her! This book is a must for the holiday season and to bring the spirit of Christ into your home!

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The musical portion was well done, and I enjoyed the section about learning more about the 5 attributes of Jesus. The book itself was really well put together.

The advanced copy had some formatting errors, but I'm sure this will be fixed in the printed copies for sale, I also found I couldn't get the QR codes to take me to the video's they were supposed to, but I'm thinking the video's aren't live yet as the book hasn't come out. I think once the videos are available this will be a really lovely experience for families.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

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By far my favorite of these Christmas Books. When it comes out I plan on getting a copy for our house. The beautiful story and music in these pages is fabulous. Yes there were some formatting errors in my copy but I was able to work around them and the book was just so good. I even read it all to my husband who also loves it

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