PROBITY JONES AND THE FEAR NOT ANGELby Walter Wangerin, Jr., author and Tim Ladwig, Illustrator
Paraclete Press
Brewster MN
ISBN 1557254575
Retail price: $16.95
Paraclete Press publication date: 2005
From the Dustjacket Endflap:
It ws Christmas Eve. Probity’s family was going to church for the Christmas pageant. Probity herself was to be the Fear Not Angel, the best part she ever had in her life. But Probity Jones was sick.
She could hear her family laughing outside as they walked away to church. She gazed through the window at the lonely moon, perfectly round, perfectly white. And she felt miserable.
Knock! Knock! Someone was knocking on their third-floor window. Probity caught her breath. Outside was a beautiful person dressed all in white, bright as the moon, and tall as the night. She opened the window on the tips of her fingers: Come, Probity Jones. It’s time to go.
And so begins a breathtaking flight up to the pathways of the moon, across a sea as deep as dreaming—and down, down to a Christmas pageant beyond imagining. And Probity is there, hovering above strangely familiar shepherds, joining the Fear Not Angel’s great glad tidings. This is a story that will enchant the entire family and bring warmth, joy, and new meaning to every season.
Babamarusia’s Review:
It was in the 1950s on Easter that I was sick—so sick that our family doctor came to the house. It was after my dad had died so it was after 1957. At some time during the day my grandfather came and stayed with me so that my mom and brother could go to their home for Easter dinner. I remember that though I was very sick, I felt special that my grandfather had come to be with me.
Probity Jones father has died, and her mother is struggling to give her family of four children what they need. What she couldn’t predict is that Probity’s new winter coat would be stolen. Now it was the day of the church Christmas pageant, and Probity is sick with fever. She couldn’t have been more disappointed, for she was chosen to be the Fear Not Angel, the angel that said, “Fear not, for behold I bring you tidings of great joy, a savior has been born….”
When her mom, sisters, and brother left for the pageant, their home grew silent, and in the silence came knocking… at the door? No… someone was knocking on the window! It was the Fear Not Angel come to take Probity through the sky to announce with her the birth of Jesus. When the family gets home her mama knows that something special happened……
This is a lovely, well-written story, as one would expect from Walter Wangerin, Jr. Tim Ladwig’s illustrations create the action, and like I did when reading this story, you may feel yourself flying through the sky with angel wings wrapped around you for warmth. It is a story of hope, bringing us into the presence of the greatest miracle of all, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a story that reminds us that because of Jesus, miracles still do happen in our world today.
I recommend this book. ... babamarusia
babamarusia is Mary Katherine May, owner of www.QualityMusicandBooks.com
