First Christmas is a an award-winning book that tells the most beloved story of all time, the birth of Jesus Christ.   Over 2000 years ago in the small town of Bethlehem a baby was born, a baby who was destined to change the world.  The story is told by a donkey named Zeke who spins his tale in playful verse.  Beautifully illustrated by Adel Nassief a Coptic Christian artist who live in Egypt, it won a gold medal in 2008 from the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards for holiday books.  It has also been translated into Spanish as Primera Navidad which won a silver medal for Hispanic books in 2009.  

First Christmas is a family book.  The author, Alastair Macdonald says, "I wrote First Christmas so that the story of the birth of Jesus Christ could be easily shared by family and friends.  It is my hope that First Christmas will help bring a new awakening to the celebration of Christmas, and in the process bring us all together as we share in the wonder of the birth of Jesus Christ."                 

• To read the poem please click here.
  
• To see the illustrations click here.
• You can see a video of the book here.
• The story of the creation of the book is here.
• To use the book for fund raising go here.
• To learn about Coptic icons go here.

Zeke the Donkey

The story is told by Joseph's hard-
working and loyal donkey named Zeke.  He tells his tale in playful verse up to the moment when he shares with us:

   "Twas a night to remember
    I'll never forget
    When Jesus the Christ child
    And I first met."

Zeke brings the story alive as never before to remind us of that very special moment over 2000 years ago when a child was born who was destined to change the world.

---

Museum of Biblical Art

The original art work is currently on show at:

The Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas, Texas.  This is a wonderful Christmas outing for families.  The books, First Christmas and Primera Navidad are also on sale at the Museum

Click here for information on the Museum of Biblical Art and its opening hours