What if Christ Had Not Been Born? (Book Review)

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Christmas season is coming!

I am always on the lookout for great Christ-focused books this time of year. That’s why I was happy for the chance to review If He Had Not Come, the new Christmas book by David Nicholson. If He Had Not Come is a beautifully illustrated Christmas book about the birth of Christ and its importance, giving us a glimpse into what the world would be like if Jesus Christ had not been born.

David Nicholson discovered the story If He Had Not Come, originally written by Nan F. Weeks, a teacher and children’s story writer. The simple gospel message and compelling (if frightening) idea of a world without Jesus led him to get the book illustrated and re-printed. It is a timeless book that brings the family back to Jesus and the heart of Christmas.

The kids and I gathered on the couch the first time we read this book. We were immediately captivated by the mystery of this little boy waking up on Christmas morning to a world without Christmas! He went searching for his parents and for landmarks and familiar scenes of the holiday he had so anticipated, but to no avail. No baby Jesus in history meant no Christmas! No churches. Ultimately, no real joy and no true hope. By the end of the story, the beautiful reality of Christ’s’ birth was restored and the little boy had a new, Christ-centered perspective on Christmas and all of life.

My kids had many questions and comments after we read If He Had Not Come! We talked about how very much depends on Jesus coming to earth as our savior. We talked about all the things during the course of a day or week that would not exist if Jesus had not been born. They quickly and happily concluded that Jesus was the most important person ever and that Christmas was a wonderful celebration of His birth.

The back of the book provides great open-ended discussion questions and topics to help parents lead their kids in these conversations. A Bible study, scriptures to look up, and a simple gospel message is also included.

Bottom Line

If He Had Not Come has a permanent place in our Christmas book collection! The illustrations by Charles Jaskiewicz are sweet and well done and the story is so powerful. I was a little concerned about my kids under 6 since the scenes and ideas of life without Christ were pretty stark and painful to think about. However, they did fine with it, and the impact those ideas made really brought about some meaningful discussions about Jesus and why He came.