The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell and illustrated by Paul Micich (Worthy Kids, 2006) is the story of a little angel in heaven who wants to give a special gift to the baby Jesus. I love the beautiful illustrations, and the story resonates with the rest of us who long to make a difference, but a little bit of the message falls short when the reader meets the special little boy, who seems unfairly portrayed in the heaven that doesn’t seem like heaven.
My main hang-up is the ridiculous version of heaven, where this little angel can’t seem to do things right. He is too noisy, too clumsy, and too unlike all the perfect angels around him. In my mind this type of heaven is not heaven at all. If a soul cannot sing on earth, in heaven it should be made right, in my mind. And, the portrayal of young innocent child being chastised in heaven rubs me the wrong way.
That said, the significance of giving a gift make The Littlest Angel reminds the reader of jsut why the Savior’s life on earth was significant. In the story, the Littlest Angel is able to give his most precious treasures to the baby on earth, which is not quite the same as the gifts the other angels have chosen. Of course, those other angels have given harps and golden halos, more than the poor little boy can contribute.
The last scenes are ones in which Christmas is mentioned in brief, with emphasis on the little boy’s role. We keep in the Christmas books box because of the unique message about our sincere gifts. He’s a young angel and he can’t seem to do anything right, but somehow his gift is the one that makes all the difference. This is a sweet message for all of to remember: it’s not about how “rich” our gifts are, but how much heart and love we’ve put in to them.
