''The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'' (titled ''The Worst Kids in the World'' in Australia, New Zealand and the UK) is a
children's novel
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
written by
Barbara Robinson in
1971. It tells the story of six misfit children who volunteer to star in their town's
Sunday school Christmas pageant
A Christmas pageant is a public event conducted in celebration of the Christmas holiday, typically involving an entertainment in the form of a procession (such as a Santa Claus parade), or a Nativity play or other performance.
Nativity pageant ...
, and end up teaching the town the true meaning of Christmas.
Story
The book is narrated in
first person perspective by the (unnamed) daughter of the pageant's director.
The six Herdman children - Imogene, Ralph, Claude, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys - are
juvenile delinquent
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
s notorious for their rowdy misfit behavior, including
cigar smoking,
cussing, drinking
jug wine
"Jug wine" is a term in the United States for inexpensive table wine (or "bulk wine") typically bottled in a glass bottle or jug.
Historically, jug wines were labeled semi-generically, often sold to third parties to be relabeled, or sold direc ...
, and
shoplifting
Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...
. They have never been disciplined because their father abandoned them when they were babies and their mother is always working multiple shifts to make ends meet. Despite their poor performance, the Herdmans steadily pass through
elementary school (since holding any one of them back would mean having two or more of them in the same grade).
They go to
Sunday school for the first time after being told that the church offers snacks. The narrator's mother is flabbergasted when they all volunteer for the lead roles in the Christmas pageant:
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
(Imogene),
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
(Ralph), the
Three Wise Men
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...
(Claude, Ollie, and Leroy), and the
Angel of the Lord
The (or an) angel of the ( he, מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה '' mal’āḵ YHWH'' "messenger of Yahweh") is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Tanakh (Old Testament) on behalf of the God of Israel.
The guessed term ''YHWH'', which occurs ...
(Gladys), the last of whom likens her role to a character from ''Amazing Comics''. Since they've bullied all the usual cast members into remaining silent during the call for volunteers, the director has no choice but to cast them.
Having never heard the
Christmas story before, the Herdmans take an uncharacteristic interest, through which the narrator is surprised to find herself, and her parents, thinking more seriously about the story's harsher aspects: e.g., that the innkeeper forced a pregnant woman and her baby to sleep in a barn, and the Holy Family were on the run from
King Herod, who wanted the baby Jesus killed.
Everyone in town is expecting the Christmas pageant to be a disaster, but the Herdmans' unconventional performances actually make the whole show much more realistic and moving: instead of walking on and off stage like actors, the Herdmans are a little uncertain about where to go and what to do, as the real-life Holy Family and Wise Men must have been; instead of laying the doll representing Jesus in the
manger
__NOTOC__
A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew").
Mangers are mostly used in ...
, Imogene insists on holding it, as if it is really her child; the Wise Men choose to bring the baby Jesus a
ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
from the Herdmans' own gift basket instead of the "crummy"
frankincense and
myrrh from the story; the shepherds are sufficiently terrified of Gladys to look authentically awed by her announcement of Jesus's birth; and during the final scene, the narrator looks over from the choir and is dumbstruck to see Imogene weeping softly while hugging the "baby". By common agreement, it is the best Christmas pageant the town has ever had.
Literary influences
In its amiable combination of farce and spirituality, the story appears to be a modern-day reimagining of the medieval
Second Shepherds' Play, the surname "Herdman" being a thinly disguised
synonym of "Shepherd."
Publication and reception
Robinson first published the story in ''
McCall's
''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...
'' magazine before it was adapted into a book, which sold over 800,000 copies.
Stage and screen adaptations
The book was adapted by Robinson into a play which was first performed on November 26, 1982, by the
Seattle Children's Theatre
The Seattle Children's Theatre (SCT) is a resident theatre for young audiences in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1975. Its main performances are at the Seattle Center in a 482-seat and a 275-seat theatre, from September through June. SCT also has ...
.
Playscript of The best Christmas pageant ever By Barbara Robinson
/ref>
''The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'' is a play performed annually for over 20 years by Stage One, a children's theater in Louisville, KY. Other theaters that have performed the play are the Public Theatre of Kentucky in Bowling Green, KY
Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...
, and The Communication Department of Mississippi College in Clinton, MS. The book was adapted into a television movie on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
in 1983, starring Loretta Swit
Loretta Jane Swit (born Loretta Szwed; November 4, 1937) is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on ''M*A*S*H'', for which she won two E ...
and a then-unknown Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American actress, musician, and visual artist. Influential in popular culture, Balk is known for her portrayals of distinctive " goth-girl" characters, often with a dark edge. She has appeared in numerous i ...
. Robinson also wrote this adaptation's teleplay.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Christmas Pageant Ever
1971 American novels
American children's novels
Christmas novels
Harper & Row books
Christmas children's books
American novels adapted into films
1971 children's books
American novels adapted into plays
American novels adapted into television shows