Dec. 16 Storytime

Mike RiessFamily Resources

Who Built the Stable

by Ashley Bryan, Simon & Schuster 2012

Who built the stable where Jesus lay? Multiple “Coretta Scott King Award” winner Ashley Bryan has a very good idea in this beautiful and moving new layer to the nativity story.

Riding in an open Jeep across the plains of Africa, beloved and nationally acclaimed author and illustrator Ashley Bryan found himself comparing the terrain to Jerusalem, and the bumpy journey to that of Mary’s travel on a donkey.  He came up with a question: Who built the manger where Mary and Joseph found shelter?The answer is conveyed in this beautifully crafted picture book that envisions a young boy, a shepherd and carpenter both who, out of love and kindness, cleared the way for another shepherd and carpenter to be born on Christmas day.

The boy looked in the infant’s eyes
And in his heart he knew
The babe would be a carpenter
He’d be a shepherd too.

Told in gentle rhyme and illustrated with Ashley Bryan’s enormous talent, this is a picture book that captures the reason for the season in all its wonder and beauty. Who Built the Stable? is a celebration of Christmas, of the kindness of children, and of the new hope born with each new baby.

  • How do you imagine the stable would look?
  • Using popsicle sticks glued together, make a crib for the baby Jesus. He might be cold so using fabric strips, write your hope for 2021 on the strip and make a cover for the sweet baby Jesus.  On Christmas morning, read the fabric strip hopes into a prayer for the morning.