"Amahl and the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti, Illustrated by Michele Lemieux

When I was probably about ten, and my brother would have been about five, my mom got this book out of our library on a whim.  Or at least, I think it was a whim -- she might have heard of it somewhere and been delighted to find it, but as well as I can remember, she just randomly found it in the stacks.  

The three of us were enchanted by this story of a lame beggar boy and his mother encountering the wise men, who are on their way to visit the Christ child.  We got it from the library multiple times.  

And then, while on vacation, we discovered that one of my aunts had a videorecording of the opera this book is based on!  So we got to watch it!  I have no idea anymore which production it was, as the opera was written specifically for TV in the 1950s, and there were many productions over the years.  I do know that we watched that version several times over the next few years.  And my mom, my brother, and I will still sing, "This is my box!  This is my box!  I never travel without my box!" at appropriate moments. 

This is the same edition that I read as a kid, illustrated by Michele Lemieux, and I still love these pictures.  I was so excited that our library had the same edition!  The ending still gives me goosebumps.

This is technically a picture book, but pretty long -- 64 pages with a LOT of text.  I read it to my kids in two parts because we didn't have time to read the whole thing in one sitting.  

This is my third book review for the Literary Christmas 2017 link-up hosted at In the Bookcase.