THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER
By Barbara Robinson
Trumpet Club, 1972
“The Herdman’s were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker’s old broken-down toolhouse.”
So begins one of the funniest Christmas books I have ever read. The kids and I picked this up (where else?) at the library book sale in August. Not a one of us knew what we were getting into. And while the kids may not be old enough (or sophisticated enough) to appreciate the underlying irony of the story—that it took a pack of kids like the Herdman’s to teach a community the true meaning of the Christmas story—they enjoyed those wacky Herdman’s a great deal.
Reading this book is bound to become a Burns family Christmas tradition … especially if I can find a version of it with print my poor, old eyes can see without holding the book at armslength. (I don’t need glasses, really. I just need longer arms!)