Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt

Angela and the Baby Jesus Reviews

• 
  Dave Schaafsma

  A sweet and funny picture book by Frank McCourt and romantically illustrated by Raul Colon about McCourt's mother who at six (we are told) felt sorry for the nearly naked and probably freezing baby Jesus in the creche at St Joseph's, hid out in the confessional (nice touch!) til no one else was around, stole it, and brought him home to warm it in her own bed. Her brother Pat told on her, but when the family got caught by the priest and a copper trying to return it to the church, he stood up for her and said he would agree to go to the Limerick jail in her place.
  
  Sweet?! And a little quirky (I love her multiple attempts to throw the baby Jesus over the fence to get it in her yard), and I like how you hear a wink in Frank McCourt's Irish brogue as he tells it. Perhaps with a bit of the blarney?
• 
  Chip

  I picked this up the day Frank McCourt died, but couldn't read it until today. Having read all of McCourt's other books, I've been saving it for the right moment, and for some reason it felt like the right moment just now. Reading it felt like getting one last Christmas present from a much-loved uncle.
  
  Delightful book. It is Frank, at his tender best. The artwork is fabulous. To think there were a million other wonderful stories inside him, and now they're all gone. I miss 'im.
  
  I know this sounds crazy, but I would love to see the Wallace and Gromit people (Aardman?) animate this as a movie short. It would be touching and hilarious at the same time, just as Frank would have wanted.
  
• 
  Abigail

  When Angela sees the Christ Child lying in his crib at St. Joseph's Church, near her home in Limerick, Ireland, the young girl believes that he must be terribly cold. Determined to spare the child a form of suffering which which she is all too familiar, she steals him, taking him home in order to keep him safe and warm. Her brother Pat discovers her secret, and eventually gives her away to the family, who insist that the statue must be returned to the church. But what will the parish priest and the local policeman do, when they are discovered trying to return him...?
  
  Originally published in 2007 as
  Angela and the Baby Jesus, this lovely holiday picture-book from Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the memoir,
  Angela's Ashes, was reprinted this year (2019) as Angela's Christmas. I greatly enjoyed McCourt's memoir, many years ago when it was first published, but I never read the sequels, nor was I aware until recently that he had written a children's story, based upon one of his mother's childhood experiences. I'm glad that I have discovered this, as I found the story equal parts humorous and heartwarming, and appreciated both the moving conclusion, and the beautiful artwork by Raúl Colón. Recommended to fans of the author, and to anyone looking for deeply felt Christmas stories for children, that are both entertaining and poignant.
• 
  K.D. Absolutely

  Riding on the popularity of his Pulitzer award-winning book, Angela's Ashes, two years before his death, Frank McCourt (1930-2009) wrote this book, Angela and the Baby Jesus. According to Wiki, this is based on his mother's story when the latter was a small girl in Limerick, Ireland.
  
  The book is an easy 15-minute read. It is about a girl who thinks that the statue infant in the manger of their church is real. Since it is cold in Ireland in December and she, the dirt poor girl, feels cold, she thinks that the half-bare infant must really be freezing and could die anytime. So, she picks up the statue and brings it home.
  
  Well. I enjoyed Angela's Ashes and listed it among my favorite memoirs. However, my brother told me that the story of McCourt growing up as a boy in Limerick was not true. Check Wiki, he says. True enough, McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York and not in Limerick as he claims in the book. If it is a work of fiction, I understand but he won the Pulitzer under "Biography and Autobiography" and Angela's Ashes is told in first person narrative. Well, he is dead already and I enjoyed the book so why bother to question.
  
  Anyway. I enjoyed Angela and the Baby Jesus because of the girl's innocence and the flying Jesus. The sketches in the book are also nice to look at especially the flying scene and the one with girl about to take the baby from the manger. The choice of the style in those sketches is unlike the usual one that you see in children's books: colorful, distinct and characters always smiling. This one appeals more to adults but children might enjoy it as well.
  
• 
  Cindi

  This story was based on a true story about the author's mother. I liked the family interaction in this book and enjoyed the sweetness of the little children. Angela's brother is willing to go to jail for her (she stole the baby Jesus out of the nativity because she thought he was cold) because he loves Baby Jesus and he loves his sister. Too sweet! There were also some really funny lines that we all laughed about.
  
  The illustrations were unique and very beautiful!
• 
  Shari

  This may be a new Christmas favorite of our family!
• 
  Christine Kallner

  Frank McCourt narrates this himself! A touching Christmas story involving a theft of baby Jesus from the local church nativity because 6-year old Angela was afraid he was cold. There’s an illustrated picture book edition I’ll have to check out as well.
  
  Re-read Dec 2018: Borrowed the picture edition from the library and the illustrations are lovely. Still enjoy the narrated audiobook very much though.
• 
  Elizabeth

  A new Christmas favorite for me...although published several years ago now. This precious true story is about a little girl, Angela, who is so concerned about the welfare of baby Jesus in the manger in a cold church, that she "kidnaps" him to warm him up! The sweetness and kindness is what Christmas is all about. And the adults in the story are touched by a child's innocent point of view. So love this!
• 
  Susan

  A favorite Christmas read. I purged my Christmas book collection with a heavy hand last year; passing many along to my grandchildren with the remainder going to the local friends if the library group, but this treasure stays with me. Humorous, tender, delightful.
• 
  Tatevik is on semi hiatus (trying to finish PHD)

  Cute innocent story. The illustrations were a little scary. I liked the narrator though (Irish accent, need I say more?)
  
  
  
  There is a Netflix movie, which is way better than the book illustrations, so, I am going to watch that.
• 
  Virginia Hume

  A wonderful book about Frank McCourt's mother who, as a little girl, worried that the baby Jesus was cold in the manger at church. So she sneaks him home. The book is also, tangentially but quite touchingly, about her intellectually disabled brother.
  
  The illustration of the baby Jesus flying over the garden wall is quite something to behold. A great gift for children (and Godchildren).
• 
  Jamie

  I liked this concept, but the execution was a bit long winded and complicated for a two year old. It was also a bit confusing if you are not a catholic family. But Angela was cute, and her siblings were funny, and I liked the ending as well as how the other nativity figures were given « feelings. »
• 
  Katy

  This beautiful book was given to me on my birthday this year by a dear friend.
  It will make a wonderful addition to my Christmas collection.
• 
  Natalie

  Angela sees Baby Jesus lying in the manger and he must be so cold! She takes matters into her own hands to help keep him warm. When her family finds out, they tell her she must return him.
  
  This is a sweet story from the perspective of a little girl who's just trying to do what she thinks is right--keep the barely clothed Baby Jesus warm! I enjoyed how she "talks" to him and could picture any little girl playing with a doll talk and act the same exact way. Especially heartwarming is the ending with her big brother .
• 
  Jane

  This is such a sweet book. Frank McCourt wrote this short story about his mother when she was a child. Angela sees the baby Jesus in the manger at her church and believes he is cold. She takes him home to keep him warn.
• 
  Eleni

  A wonderful true story by a beloved author!
  Frank McCourt writes about young Angela, his mom, and how she agonized over Baby Jesus lying naked in the Christmas Church crib and catching a cold, so she had to act fast...
  A tender, heartwarming Christmas read!
• 
  Lynn A. Davidson

  This is a beautifully-told story with lovely illustrations.
  Six-year-old Angela is worried that the baby Jesus doll will be cold. What she does to warm the doll leads to the whole family getting mixed up in the priest's consternation.
• 
  Karen Kline

  A true story of Frank McCourt's mother. Angela thought the baby Jesus in the church nativity must be cold, so she hatched a plan to warm him up. Heartwarming, and in parts hilarious, this book is perfect for Christmas or anytime we need a little Godly inspiration.
• 
  Susan

  I'm so glad I stumbled upon this in the Christmas section at the library. Again, McCourt makes you feel through dialogue and imagery, as if you are actually there, watching the events unfold. What a storyteller.
• 
  Jeffery Chapman

  A Christmastime Family Favorite
  
  We cherish this story in the JK Chapman Family first shared with us by our son. His telling of the tale is worth many miles of travel over winter roads in Idaho or Arizona. Merry Christmas to Angela and to the precious Baby Jesus.
• 
  Clarissa

  This is a lovely story about Frank McCourt's mother Angela when she was six. Poor Angela worries that the baby Jesus in the church nativity looks cold, so she brings him home to keep him warm. I am not religious, but it was a sweet lovely story.
• 
  Fae Morgan

  A children's book I know, but this a book I remember my mum reading to me as a kid, and I've read this with my younger siblings. I've also watch the Netflix adaptation. This was an adorable, heartwarming, short read.
• 
  Susan

  A sweet little children's book by the late great Frank McCourt. About his mother, little Angela as a child. Her precious innocence and her love of baby Jesus. This book is so sweet I bought my own copy. Can't wait to read it with my grandchild.