The Archangel’s Gift
( A children's Christmas fable)
( A children's Christmas fable)
Jamie is an intelligent but rather
self centered almost-nine year old girl who is counting and shaking her
presents on Christmas Eve. After a
failed attempt to read the Christmas story, Jamie’s father gives her a strange
gift- a wooden statue of an old, fat, balding angel with tattered wings. Because of a wish that Jamie makes earlier in
the evening, the statue comes to life at her bedside, and the irascible old
angel takes her on a magical journey back in time to the first Christmas night
in Bethlehem.
Gabe (Archangel,
Retired) is a cigar smoking, seat-of-the-pants kind of angel who tries very
hard not to swear, and who says to Jamie, “Don’t worry, I’ve never lost anyone
on these trips…not yet, anyway.” And of
course, that’s just what happens…
During her
night’s adventure, Jamie manages to meet two of the wise-men, a couple of
shepherd boys, and eventually a shivering, young new mother, where Jamie’s
spontaneous act of kindness changes Christmas forever.
ForeWord Clarion Review
JUVENILE FICTION
The Archangel’s Gift
Dick Morgan
AuthorHouse
978-1-4772-0515-0
Five Stars (out of Five)
For those who don’t mind a bit of irreverence in their
Christmas stories, Dick Morgan’s
The Archangel’s Gift offers one of the most endearing
holiday tales to come along in
quite a while. Morgan’s story is not just for kids.
Adults and families who enjoy
revisiting their holiday book collections every December
are going to add this one to their
must-read lists for years to come.
Featuring a modern-day, realistically self-centered,
nearly nine-year-old girl
named Jamie, and more than a bit of magic, The
Archangel’s Gift offers a most unusual
but positively delightful peek into the events of the
very first Christmas night in
Bethlehem. Precociously teetering between “I believe in
Santa” and “I know it all,” Jamie
is a charmer. Despite her fledgling sense of entitlement
and her “need” for a new laptop
from Santa, she is still young and innocent enough to be
open to the true wonders of
Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, Jamie’s dad, a man who truly loves the
holiday and everything
associated with it, gives her a small wooden angel
statue, “old and pot-bellied, bald and
wrinkled.” The angel, who “need(s) a shave,” has a halo
that has “slipped down over one
ear” and a “battered trumpet tied to a sash around his
waist.” Jamie is neither amused nor
grateful. As far as she is concerned, her father’s
present suggests that this is “going to be
a socks and underwear kind of Christmas.” Enter the
holiday magic.
As Jamie fights sleep, trying to listen for Santa, the
angel statue comes to life and
introduces himself as Gabe, short for Gabriel. “You’re
the Gabriel, as in, the Archangel
Gabriel blew his horn, and the heavens opened up?” asks
Jamie. “Retired,” he tells her.
“Michael’s got the job now.” Gabe has come to teach Jamie
a very important life lesson.
He asks, “What if socks and underwear were what you
needed most in the whole
universe? What if you were so cold and hungry you’d be
thankful for a few rags and
bread crumbs?” It’s something she cannot imagine. “I’m
here to give you what you most
need,” he tells her. “Perspective.”
Morgan’s Gabe is the cheekiest of angels. Funny, flawed,
and good-hearted, he
takes Jamie on a trip through time to witness the wonders
of “that first Christmas night in
Bethlehem.” Along the way, they encounter angels of all
sorts. Cigar-smoking, feather-
molting Gabe is a reliably entertaining character as he
pushes his way through the
multitude of angels, spouting statements like, “God will
meet you halfway down any path
as long as you seek him,” and “God’s will isn’t something
you can put on like a shirt.”
From start to finish, The Archangel’s Gift is pure
delight. Beautifully developed
characters, clever tongue-in-cheek humor, a captivating
story line, and just enough magic
come together in a book that deserves to become a holiday
classic.
Cheryl M. Hibbard
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