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The Gifts of Christmas

Writer's picture: Aslan's PrincessAslan's Princess


Hey, there. I was trying to help my mom find some Christmas books and I stumbled across this picture book. It may be a little older and probably not as popular, but it is a little story that I enjoyed.

Francesco and his animal friends are getting things finished for the Christmas Eve celebrations at San Damiano near Assisi. Francesco is heading into town for a Christmas surprise for his friends and the town. This causes Beatrice the raccoon and the rest of the animals to realize that they don’t have any presents to give Francesco. This is soon remedied as the animals decide to use some gathered foods to make a cake, beeswax to make a candle, and wool to make a new robe. So a wolf, bear cub, racoon, donkey, mama sheep, lamb, bee, and songbird head into town to have their gifts made. The sheep’s wool is left with the tailor, the bee’s beeswax is given to the candlemaker, and though they can’t get the baker to make the cake, he does allow them to use his shop. Finally they have their gifts and are returning to the church. But, they find a poor, hungry family; an old, cold man; and a poor woman stumbling in the dark. What will the animals do? And how will Francesco react?

I tried to find out a little more about Francesco’s stories, but apparently any information is vague or nonexistent. So, here’s my theory. Francesco’s Friendly World was meant to be a Christian, maybe even Catholic, equivalent to . . . Barney and Friends or similar kid shows. Some of the characteristics are there (having watched a video with Francesco). A main character that all the supporting characters look up to; fun songs to learn and maybe even offer a bit of a lesson; a good lesson or two for kids overall; and a problem that the main character either solves by himself or influences how it is solved. However, for one reason or another, Francesco’s Friendly World did not become all that popular, considering the only things I could find were three films with the possibility of each film being adapted to a picture book. Personally, I enjoyed the one movie I have seen and the Christmas book I’ve read. All the animals have distinct personalities. Examples: Armando the wolf seems to be older then the rest and is level-headed; Leopold the bear cub is possibly the youngest with a happy outlook on life and inquisitive; and Beatrice the raccoon is a bit of a worrier though generally happy around her friends. The songs are catchy, one of my favorites being “Why Does the Rain Go Crash, Bang, Boom” (or something like that) if for no other reason that it was for some fun characters being as scared of storms as I was. And the stories are simple yet charming.

As for this little Christmas book, it is simply a sweet story. And maybe a bit spoiler-ish, it kinda illustrates Jesus’ teaching of “when you do it unto the least of these, you did it unto me” (vague, maybe slightly paraphrased quote). One final thing, I enjoy it for the simple fact that it is a Christmas story since Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.


This charming tale was adapted from film by Mark S. Bernthal. The artist who captured the characters and their surroundings beautifully was Rick Grayson. The book is twenty-four pages long with enough colorful pictures to hold a small child’s attention while you read to them and the medium-sized font big enough for some older readers who still enjoy picture books. You can probably already guess but I’m going to be giving this story five out of five dragons around the Christmas tree for overall content and ending.


Sadly, though I highly recommend this story, it may be difficult to find. But if you get the chance, pick it up and enjoy a read. It is a lovely, little story.


Until next time. Bye.

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