Return to Bethlehem

Bible Adventurers #2

by Lesley Barklay, Mandy Mitchell (Illustrator)

'Dear God,' Joshua prayed. 'I wish I knew the real story about when the wise men visited Jesus...'

When Joshua prays on Christmas Eve, he doesn't expect to wake up in the palace of an angry king. With the help of a new friend, Joshua and Hannah uncover Herod's plot to find and destroy the saviour of the world. Can Joshua and Hannah get to Jesus in time to save the babies of Bethlehem? And will their faith be strong enough to carry them through?

100 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Lesley Barklay has taught high school English, German, and History in rural and outback NSW since 2003. She loves bossing people around, reading, writing, editing, and mentoring young writers. Lesley is currently working on an adult fantasy series, a YA scifi series, a Christian romance, and a middle-grade adventure series, because she is a sucker for punishment. Why write one series, when you can write four?

Lesley lives with her husband, twelve-year-old son, nine-year-old daughter, and one chicken in Moree. In her spare time, you can find her procrastinating from writing by watching authortube. That counts, right?

Click here for a FULL LIST of Lesley's books!
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Email: authorlesleybarklay@gmail.com

Reviews

[Minda Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently had the pleasure of reading "Return to Bethlehem." Joshua and Hannah, a brother and sister, had already been taken back to when Jesus was born in the previous book, "Road to Bethlehem." In this story, it is a year later, and Joshua once again prays that he could be there when the wisemen met Jesus. Once again, the children wake up in Bethlehem, interact with Mary and Joseph, and this time, get to spend time with Jesus as a toddler. The story fleshes out familiar Biblical territory of the wisemen visiting Herod, meeting Jesus, and Joseph's dream to flee to Egypt.

I really enjoyed that the character of Joshua appears to be on the autism spectrum, though it is never explicitly stated in the story. Because of this, we see him processing the happenings in the story from a different perspective, and it helps us to identify with him and his way of thinking.

The part of the story that surprised me was the ending, as Lesley Barklay tackles the difficult question of what happened to the babies that were killed by Herod in his rampage to kill Jesus. I had tears in my eyes as I imagined the perspective of the Jewish mothers. Joshua and Hannah feel called by God to save the babies. Will they accomplish their goal?

I'm excited to read the third book in the series, "Lost in Jerusalem"!

[Lesley Barklay]

As someone who has read this book over and over again, and still enjoys it, allow me to recommend it to everyone ;-)

Although most people associate the wise men with Christmas, this story is set over a year after Jesus' birth, when the wise men would have arrived. The POV character, Joshua, has Asperger's Syndrome, and is gifted with numbers. If you have an Aspie child in your life, who wants to see a hero like them on the page, this might be a good book choice.

This 14,250-word chapter book is written for kids 7-11, but it is suitable for older readers, and younger readers can enjoy it as part of a family read.