Three Wise Women

by Mary Hoffman, Lynne Russell (Illustrator)

One evening long ago, three women in three very different corners of the world are struck by the light of a bright new rising star, and each feels compelled to follow it. The three women meet on a path of starlight, and together they walk through the hills to a small thatched stable, where a baby lies in a makeshift crib, surrounded by expensive gifts. The women have nothing to give except gifts from the heart. Mary Hoffman?s beautiful story, enhanced by Lynne Russell?s glowing artwork, gently reminds all readers of the contributions women have made to Christianity.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

See also works published under Mary Lassiter

Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.

Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel

Reviews

[Bonnie Tesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit, most of the Christmas ones I'm attached to, it's the last page or two that seals the attachment. Unfortunately, the last page on this felt like a little bit of a letdown to me from what had otherwise been a mystical and empowering story.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful thought-provoking picture book about three women from different parts of the world who also see the Star of Bethlehem and travel to see the source of the light. They arrive after the Three Kings who have left fine gifts. Although they don't have much, they give what they have: a loaf of bread, a story, and a kiss from another baby. This is the kind of story that will stay with you long after you have put it down. A truly beautiful story of faith, generosity, and love!

"But the star-baby in the stable never forgot the women and their three presents. When he grew up, he showed that fresh-baked loaves taste even better when they are shared. He told the most wonderful stories to anyone who would listen. And the man whose birth had been marked by a new star taught the whole world that the greatest gift of all is love."

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if women also saw that bright star shining as a beacon, announcing the birth of the babe born in Judea? What if three wise women chose to follow that star and found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger? What gifts might they bring...and what gifts might they receive? These 3 wise women felt drawn to follow the star and to offer precious gifts to that babe born long ago. Wise women have followed Him ever since.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughters and I loved this book! Such a sweet story of 3 fictitious women who sought the Christ Child.

[Elizabeth]

I was intrigued by the idea behind this book, and the illustrations are quite lovely, but I felt like I wanted more out of the ending -- I think mostly because the African woman's baby kisses baby Jesus, in a sort of blessing, and that gets turned into (in the closing bit about the star-baby never forgetting the women and their gifts, showing how their gifts lived on his life) "And the man whose birth had been marked by a new star taught the whole world that the greatest gift of all is love," which is just such a weird sentence, because the two halves aren't connected unless you think "a baby whose birth is marked by a star needs lots of earthly presents because obviously this marks him as a great king or whatever" which I really appreciated *wasn't* talked about explicitly in the book (though it was certainly alluded to).

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story overall (I did get a little teary at the end!) but some parts were pretty corny ("the moon a fingernail of mother-of-pearl"? The rest of the book isn't quite so over-the-top with trying to be poetic) and the constant references to starlight got old ("star-bread", "path of starlight", "kiss full of starlight", we get it!). We got this from the library and my son had me read it to him a good 20 times!

[Courtwiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was throwing me off at first with its seemingly extreme reference to Christianity but after reading it I see that it is much more than that. I loved how simple and easy to read the book was with beautiful illustrations. It also taught some amazing messages about the power of diversity and how amazing it is but also female unity. The females in this book stole the show from the three wise men.

[Y.G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Hoffman is successful at imagining a complementary tale to the traditional Three Kings' account with Three Wise Women.

It was a good idea to use women from different parts of the world.

Even though the story has an interesting perspective, the text is complicated for children who read picture books.

Lynne Russell's illustrations are okay.

[Doree Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites. It is a Christ Christmas book. Three women from different parts of the world follow the star and give what they can. They think their gifts are not much, but what they give has symbolic value to Christ's life and teachings.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not crazy about this book. The story was its weakness. It seemed to have an agenda that it just barely met to bring women into a part of the story where they didn't exist before. I normally like Hoffman, but this one fell short.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice, imaginative take on giving. Three women bring gifts to the baby Jesus, after the magi have come and gone.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the idea and the illustrations are appealing I wanted more from this book. Still a little too wordy for my kids.