Build Your Own Bethlehem: A Nativity Scene and Activity Book for Christmastime

by Gertrud Mueller Nelson, Peter Mazar

Here are all the characters--and then some--for building your own nativity scene! Each figure is yours to pop loose and set up as the days of Christmas unfold. There's the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. There's the stable with scampering mice and cooing doves that sit in the rafters. There's the ox and ass and a flock of sheep accompanied by shepherds and their faithful dog. There's an angel, of course, and a star. Epiphany's three holy kings, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, are here too. And there are surprises--the Gospel's senior citizens, Anna and Simeon, who wait 40 days to meet their newborn Lord. This beautiful, full-color activity book (the pop-out figures are found inside) suggests eight occasions, from Christmas until Candlemas--a full 40 days--for using the figures to tell a portion of the nativity Gospels, like a puppet theater! The art of Gertrud Mueller Nelson and the sturdy pop-out figures truly bring the Christmas stories to life. Building your own Bethlehem is a wonderful way to keep the spirit of Christmas alive well into the new year--perfect for home or classroom, great for every age. Celebrate these Advent and Christmas stories at home or in the The annunciation to Mary The birth of Jesus
The coming of the shepherds
The flight into Egypt
The visit of the Magi
And more! Published by Liturgy Training Publications.

40 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2002

About the author

Gertrud Mueller Nelson is an author, illustrator, teacher, and speaker. She is especially known for her clip art and her award-winning, bestselling book on ceremony and ritual, To Dance with God. Nelson has designed church furnishings, stained glass, and silver jewelry. She has taught Montessori and has studied art at the Kölnerwerkschulen in Germany and psychology at the C.G. Jung Institute in Switzerland. She is internationally noted as a speaker on ritual, liturgy, family, psychology, and sacred art. Nelson has three children and three grandchildren.