the best subversive christmas pageant ever
The church Christmas pageant is always the same. For the last few years, the same girl played Mary, the same boy played Joseph, and everyone knew exactly what was going to happen next. But things are about to change.
The six Herdman kids run a little wild in town. Their father left, and their mother works hard at the local factory, so the townspeople tend to turn their heads when they see Imogene smoking cigars or hear any of them cussing. But when Ralph hears that there are snacks at Sunday school, the Herdmans all show up at church to see (and maybe steal) for themselves.
Instead, they find out about the yearly Christmas pageant and decide they want to join in, and by join in, they mean take over. They make sure to get cast as Mary, Joseph, and the angel of the Lord who announces the birth. Everyone in town is certain that the pageant will be a disaster, but they all turn up to see anyway.
And what they find is a performance that brings the true meaning of Christmas to light in funny but honest ways.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a classic of kid’s literature, but its message is timeless. The story itself is funny and bright, with lots of surprises. It’s narrated by a classmate of the Herdmans, and her mother takes over running the pageant after the woman who usually does it ends up in the hospital. She has a unique perspective of both the kids dealing with the Herdmans’ behavior and the inner workings of the pageant.
I loved this book as a kid, and I wanted to revisit it again. There are some things about the story that don’t age well about this story, namely how the Herdmans are treated and their behavior that gets shrugged off. There would be genuine consequences today for the bullying and hitting. But on the other hand, the way the pageant comes across is also more poignant due to current political ideas.
I listened to this book on audio, narrated to perfection by C.J. Critt. I adored the experience of listening to this story, and I will probably come back to listen many more times in the future. As dated as some of the ideas in the book are, it still brings a lot of warmth to my heart and reminds me of my childhood and the Christmas pageants I had to be a part of.
