FICTION

The Third Gift

by Linda Sue PARK
978-0-54720-195-5.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2—A boy tells of the long walks he takes with his father, who collects pearls of sap from certain trees, a skill he has honed over years. These expensive "tears" are used as medicine and spice, and as incense at funerals—and when three strangers arrive at the marketplace to buy the finest tears "for a baby," readers discover that it is myrrh, one of the gifts to baby Jesus mentioned in Matthew 2:11. The hyperrealistic acryl-gouache illustrations depict the sandy beige hues and nuanced textures of a dry and inhospitable land, contrasting with the smooth skin and rounded cheeks of the young boy and his loving relationship with his father. This gorgeous picture book sheds thoughtful light on a fascinating facet of the Christmas story.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
A boy learns from his father how to collect "tears" ("the pearls of sap that seep out of a tree when the bark is cut...maybe they are called tears because it seems as if the tree is crying"). Three wise men take one of them as a gift to the Baby Jesus. Textured acrylic-gouache illustrations set the scene nicely in this lyrically told story.
Reviewed by Eva Mitnick , Oct 01, 2011

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