This book is just terrible! I can't for the life of me figure out why Kathy Lee Gifford was touting it so much a year or two ago. I'll grant that the pictures are fine, if you like that comic-book distortion so common to Disney products. The text is pallid at best, with no real style and certainly nothing to mark it as very original. I found it impossible to believe that the boy, much less the donkey, would actually consider the butcher a viable alternative...is this supposed to show nobility of character? Is it trying to make a point about sacrifice? Could it be some kind of misguided, heavy-handed attempt to foreshadow the crucifixion? Or is it just really bad writing? I bought this for a nephew without reading it first, and I've definitely learned my lesson. With so many really good books about Christmas and the nativity out there, don't waste your money on this one; it belongs in the dumpster. Blech.