Bearing Gifts

Join Astor on his adventures as he bears the Wise Men's gifts to the Christ Child in Bethlehem!

Do you have fond memories of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and many others? 

Do you long for the warmth and gentleness these stories brought into your homes each year during the holidays?

Bearing Gifts is an illustrated book for children (of all ages) that harkens back to those familiar and treasured stories.

The printed book is a square hardcover, 8.5" x 8.5", with a full-color cover and full-color interior illustrations.

A Christmas Adventure for All Ages

"On a night long ago, on the first night a bright star shone in the dark sky, the smallest of camels was born in a stable far, far east of Bethlehem."

And so begins our Christmas tale, in which the unlikeliest of heroes joins the pilgrimage of the Three Kings to Bethlehem. Bearing Gifts follows Astor the camel's adventures as he faces the perils of that long journey, carrying to Bethlehem the precious treasures to honor the Christ Child.

Amid his trials and challenges, Astor finds within himself his own precious gifts—strength to bear his burdens, courage to face his fears, and a heart full of light and love.

In the tradition of other Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Little Drummer Boy, Bearing Gifts is an adventure story for children of all ages, to be treasured alongside your family's other favorite holiday tales.

Steve Arensberg (writer) writes stories to cultivate a sense of wonder (for the reader and himself): stories with a sense of magic and mystery, with worlds you can get lost in, characters you love (or love to hate), and stories that carry you along on a current of powerful emotion. "More wonder, please," says Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic (a favorite book on writing) - and that's exactly what Steve hopes his work brings to you, the reader. Bearing Gifts is his first book for children.

Polina Kotliar (illustrator) is a mother, an illustrator, and a graduate of Seneca College Animation program of Toronto, Canada. She has loved drawing animals since childhood — portraying their character and imagining their feelings has always come naturally to her. When Steve approached her to illustrate a story called Bearing Gifts, about the adventures of a little camel, her curiosity was ignited. Bearing Gifts is her first book for children.