The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

This is a beautiful book with wonderful illustrations by P.J. Lynch. The story tells about a gruff man who the kids called Mr. Gloomy because he never smiled and was always grumpy. He always complained about the noise the church bells made. He was a very skilled wood carver though and one day a woman came with her son to ask him to do a special job. The nativity set her father gave her had been lost during their move. The carver was gruff but said he would do the job. Each day the woman and her son came by so the boy could watch him carve. The boy promised to be quiet but with each piece he very politely pointed out a mistake the man was making. The boy said the sheep looked happy, the cow was very proud, the angel was very important because the baby Jesus was there. With each correction from the little boy the gruff man changed and his heart softened. The man no longer complained about the church bells and when the last of the set was finished he went to the Christmas service with the woman and her son.