The Innkeeper has settled down for a good night's sleep when there is a knock at the door. He has no room but he tells Mary and Joseph to go round the back. A few minutes later they knock again and ask for a small blanket.
"Then the innkeeper shut the door, climbed the stairs, got into bed and went to sleep"
Later there is another knock at the door and another and another as the shepherds and three kings arrive. Finally the Innkeeper becomes furious over all these interruptions.
"RIGHT - THAT DOES IT. So he got out of bed. Stomped down the stairs, threw open the door, went round the back, stormed into the stable, and was just about to speak when ..'Ssshh!' whispered everybody you'll wake the baby!' Baby? said the Innkeeper.... And just at that moment, suddenly, amazingly, his anger seemed to fly away."
I highly recommend looking for other titles by Nicholas Allen - his books are just fabulous. If you need a Christmas book that shows a different point of view - this is perfect - the Nativity story from the point of view of the Innkeeper himself.
The simple text is as approachable as Allan's deft, affectionately humorous cartoon-style illustrations, but this is not a trivialization. It's a gentle nudge to the reader's imagination: What would it really have been like to be there? Charming.
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