The Brick Testament: The Story of Christmas

by Brendan Powell Smith

Santa, sleigh bells, mistletoe, reindeer, and presents: these are the tell-tale signs of Christmas. But December 25 is also the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and what better way to introduce your kids to the story of the Savior's birth than through LEGO!

Every year, children of all ages revisit the scene in Bethlehem with Joseph, Mary, the three wise men, the angels and shepherds, and the baby Jesus, swaddled and lying in a manger. Kids will love seeing the story of Christmas played out using their favorite toys. Brendan Powell Smith, author of The Brick Bible for Kids series--beginning with --creates a magical "brick" world around the simplified text of the Immaculate Conception, the census, the guiding star high above Bethlehem, and the promise one little baby brings to the world. This important Christmas story is sure to be the perfect holiday gift and a book for families to cherish for years to come. 28 color photographs

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian

96 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Elbe Spurling (born September 7, 1973) is an American transgender artist, author, and moralist best known for The Brick Bible book series (published under her birth name Brendan Powell Smith)—an ongoing project to illustrate the entire Bible in LEGO building blocks.

Although not religious, Spurling has studied the Bible, ancient Christianity and Judaism, and is motivated by the belief that all people, whether believers or not, are better off knowing the content of the scriptures. Her unique storytelling and illustrating style has been noted for its meticulous attention to detail, and its ability to walk a fine line between humor and poignancy.

She also creates art pop music under the artist name ɘlbe and released her debut LP "gɘtting thɘre" in fall 2016.

—from the author's website

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good, solid retelling of the Christmas Story as well as the flight to Egypt. There is an introduction at the beginning to make it presentation kid friendly. There is also a seek and find at the end. It is a pretty good edition.

[Tung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smith is a Christian and a fan of legos – what better way to combine his two passions than using legos to illustrate scenes from the Bible? In this visual re-telling of the story about the birth of Christ, Smith includes a Bible verse on one page (drawn from all four of the Gospels, so it’s a more complete Christmas story than the ever-popular Luke 2 recounting), and a visual of that verse created with legos on the opposite page. An extremely quick read, except you will find yourself staring at each picture and soaking in the details. What I like about the lego pictures is that they are captured by someone with a real photographer’s eye. Some scenes focus on a single figure and blur the foreground; some of the shots show the backsides of the characters rather than framing each scene simply from the front; basically, these illustrations are as much a part of the telling of the story as the verses. Kids will love this book (although there is one illustration of Herod ordering the killing of young boys in Bethlehem from Matt 2:16 that is very graphic), as will fans of legos.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting. don't read it if you don't want your kids to ask questions like "why are they pointing a knife at Jesus when he's 8 days old."

[Slee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, the angel is kind of creepy and reclining legos seem a touch... well... off. That said, my kids love legos, and so this was a fun reading adventure for them. My teenager enjoyed it the most, particularly the slaughter of the innocents, but she's got a deep and abiding love of dark humor, and it was, most definitely, ultimately humorous to see the Christmas story told by legos. Props to the weirdlings geeks who thought this up, and their dedication to building. I laughed a lot, but like I said, there's just something creepy about the angels, and "child Jesus." Seriously, legless adult torso? Lego needs to hop on that whole legos that bred wagon.

[Jude Morrissey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very faithful to the Biblical narrative, and covers Jesus' birth, the flight to Egypt, and their return to Nazareth. Although the illustrations are done with LEGO blocks and are pretty cute, the story itself isn't prettified, and parents ought to read it and discuss the issues with their kids, rather than letting them read it alone - especially if they are very young. In fact, Rev. Lundy, the director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at New York Theological Seminary, wrote a one-page introduction to the book for parents, giving some direction and tips for how to read and discuss the book with your kids.

[Louie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to say the least...not quite a book for adults and certainly not for kids...unless you want to explain to the young ones why grown-up legos are pointing a knife at the Baby Jesus Lego (his circumcision).
The sheer kitschiness of this book kept me in stitches...the Holy Ghost is hilarious!
I don't know what qualifies me to burn in hell more: that I couldn't quit snickering while I read this at my favorite used book store (yes, for free), that someone actually thought this was a great way to describe Jesus' birth or that I've written and posted this review.
ROTFLMAO

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially the Christmas Story told through Legos. I read it out loud with a group of friends and it was fun to discuss, but a lot of things are awkwardly glossed over or ignored. This is of course to be expected with any short retelling of the story, but I wouldn't have been happy if this was read to me as a child because of it. I can see how a lot of children wouldn't have that problem though, so the fact that the Legos are awesome might do enough for them that they don't mind. I think that this is more for fans of Legos and the wit attached than for those who want the full story.

[Tanna Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since my son is a huge Lego fan I got this book for him to try and help him understand the meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate. It was such a great book to get the story across to a 7 year old. He was able to understand the story and follow along with the pictures. Each scene was beautifully created and very well put together. I couldn't have asked for a better book to help a kid understand the true meaning of Christmas.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very funny, because it had pictures that really showed what it must have been like in Bible times. It was a very enjoyable book that I think more people should read. I look forward to reading more Brick Testament books soon.

[Joshua T · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a great book!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

good way to tell the story

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book and I think it’s a very neat that Brendan Powell Smith has made the Christmas story out of Legos. I love it! -Lauren

[Zan C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is it Biblical?
I like this one because I like Legos, also there's a search and find at the end of the book. It's easy to read, and Mary looks pretty funny when she's pregnant because there's a Lego block stuck to her. Jesus's legs are tiny but his torso is the same size as his parents' at the end. This book was mostly biblical, it even includes Herod killing the children.

Just for your information, if you read Luke 2 after this, there are some differences. Scripture says that the shepherds were afraid of the angel and that more angels appeared. The book does not mention that the shepherds glorified God because of the news about the baby. The book makes it sound like the magi arrived in Bethlehem two days after Jesus was born, but Scripture says it was at least a month later.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

52 Books in 52 Weeks 2020 Reading Challenge - A book borrowed from a friend

[Darinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Christmas story using Lego to illustrate the story.

[Nathaniel Schmoyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a retelling of the christmas story with lego characters

[Camille White]

Haha omg I can't tell if this is a joke or not! Its the jesus story told with lego brick characters. Whatever it is, its weird. Cant wait to put it on the shelf for someone to borrow!