The Herdmans Are Back! Check Out This New Christmas Movie To Add To Your Classics List

A few free books, my next cover reveal, check out my new Etsy shop, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Nov 28, 2024

Oh those Herdmans…

About ten years ago, as we were driving home from our yearly Christmas trip to Lancaster, PA, my young kids were getting a little restless in the car. I’m a big believer in books instead of screens, so I looked up the best Christmas books.

And we found Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Within fifteen minutes of putting it on, we were hooked specifically because of The Herdmans.

The Herdmans are a family of six children who were the biggest troublemakers of their small town of Emanuel in the 1970s and the book details how they literally hijacked the local church’s annual Christmas pageant. I mean these kids - age raging from five to twelve - set things on fire, steal and whoa… smoke cigars. Don’t even get me started on their pet cat.

Back to their local church’s annual (and impressive) Christmas pageant. Let’s be honest, these six hooligans only show up to the church because they heard about the free snacks. Because who doesn’t love all the nutrient-dense church food?

But that’s just the beginning of this heartwarming Christmas story.

The producers of this movie are Dallas Jenkins and his wife, Amanda. I saw their announcement a year ago about the film version coming to the big screen and I was excited! I am a big fan of Mr. Jenkin’s The Chosen series. The Chosen is the story of the twelve disciples of Jesus, and what happens after they meet. For me, it’s the best Jesus story interpretation I’ve ever seen and I am always streaming it even though I’ve seen every episode. (If you haven’t seen the Chosen, please… please do yourself a favor and watch it! I’ll put the link at the end of this post).

As of January 2024, the Christian historical drama The Chosen has had 200 million viewers and 770 million episode views.

Yesterday, I took my family to see Mr. Jenkin’s new movie, and I laughed, I cried, and felt everything in between.

Because he wrote a review better than I could, here’s the review by Paul Asay, from my favorite Christian movie review site, Pluggedin, here:

The Christmas story—the real Christmas story—is more than 2,000 years old. And as such, it doesn’t hold a lot of surprises. We know about the shepherds, the wise men, the livestock in the manger. Most of us could recite the story in our sleep. And if we’re honest, some church-based Christmas pageants just might put us to sleep, too.

That might be said for the annual pageant held every year in the little town of Emmanuel. For 74 years, the pageant had gone off like clockwork. Oh, different Marys and Josephs and wise men might’ve come and gone. But the nuts and bolts of the production never changed: Angels would sing Christmas carols. Kids would shuffle on and off stage in bathrobes. Mary and Joseph would look down at their wriggling infant in the manger and silently encourage the audience to consider this, the greatest gift the world had ever received.

That was supposed to have been the case for the 75^th performance, too.

The Herdman kids are Emmanuel’s own collective township terror. Beth, a classmate and frequent target of ringleader Imogene Herdman, knows just how bad they can be. “They lied,” Beth tells us. “They stole. They smoked cigars—even the girls.” Threats and violence came second nature to the whole Herdman clan, and they honed both with ever so much practice. They even burned down Fred Shoemaker’s ugly tool shed.

“My father said that was the only good thing the Herdmans ever did,” Beth reports. “And if they had known it was a good thing, they wouldn’t have done it at all.”

Most of the townsfolk might’ve thought that the Herdmans would’ve burst into flames if they ever stepped into church. But lured by the promise of free food and candy, step in they did, and none of them so much as sparked. Soon, all six of them volunteered to fill the most prominent roles in Emmanuel’s Christmas pageant: Mary, Joseph, the three wise men and the Angel of the Lord.

And because there were no other volunteers—the Herdmans made sure of that—they took over the pageant itself, lock, stock and manger.

What happens when the chaotic, bruising force of the Herdmans runs headlong into a tradition that never, ever changes? Well, the entire town of Emmanuel is about to find out.

And they wouldn’t miss this Christmas pageant for the world.

When some say The Feel-Good Movie of the Year - well… for me… The Best Christmas Pageant Ever gets the award for 2024. Go see it and feel the wonder as the Herdman’s encounter Jesus for the first time.

Here are some other movies that will make your Christmas even merrier (if that’s possible 😉):

The Man Who Invented Christmas - this movie hits the mark with the telling of exactly how Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. It is based on the book The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits which you can get at Amazon. I might pick this one up this year to see how it relates to the movie.
The Bishop’s Wife - Cary Grant… Need I say more? All right, I’ll say a little more. This is the story of an angel that comes to a priest at Christmas to show him the true meaning of not-only Christmas, but of life. Super wonderful movie.
Get Santa - This British hit stars a few of the actors from the Harry Potter movie series. A recent parolee and his son try to break Santa out of prison, and get him back to his sleigh before Christmas Eve.

SHAMELESS PLUG RIGHT HERE (Forgive me!)

If you are looking for another good, wholesome, fun read this Christmas, check out my book Saving Mr. Scrooge. This is the story of Marley and his journey from dying to returning to earth to save his friend Scrooge from the impending doom that awaits him if he doesn’t change his ways. It’s got 5-star reviews from people I don’t know and is available in Kindle unlimited.

What coming up for me?

The other night I was out with a lovely woman who happens to be my husband’s cousin. We were at dinner and she looked at me very seriously and said,

“When is your next book coming out?”

I answered like this:

That’s a fair question. So, I don’t know if you know this or not, but I don’t get paid for writing a book. I know you think I’m kidding, but I’m not. 🤩

Since I published The Church Ladies League in 2022, I have had to take a few jobs that take up most of my time when you combine them with being a mom. So, when my husband and I moved our family south, we decided to really give this mompreneur thing a go, but I still had to make some money. 💰

This past summer we got a Cricut. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a cutting machine where you can make many things like t-shirts, mugs, and - as I found out - stickers.

I love stickers. AND I’m a graphic designer. (I mean L❤️O❤️V❤️E❤️ - like I spend hours in the create-your-own planner isle at Hobby Lobby and peruse the sticker books. I believe in stickers for everyone!) When I die and approach Heaven, here’s how I want the conversation to go (Disclaimer: I stole this from Erma Bombeck):

St. Peter: So?

Me: I used every bit of talent that you gave me … so I made stickers. (That last part about the stickers is me, not Erma).

Introducing my new Etsy shop: Anya’s Sticker Show. To begin, I’m selling home-made 4x6 sticker sheets - like the one below:

I’ve got a few Christmas sticker sheets up now, and I’ll have more soon for your planner, or journal so why not stop on by and like my shop!

What’s my next book?

It’s called The Jack Plan and it will be the second of the Church Ladies League books. Here’s the cover!

I’ve received so many messages from my readers and many said they wanted to know what happens with Jack (which thank you by the way! I love getting messages from readers). So…

Sienna and Patrick have returned from their honeymoon, and Sienna has decided to set her sights on Jack to help him finally tie the knot, whether he likes it or not. So how can she do that? First of all, she can get the Church Ladies League together to form a plan and oh, what a plan it is.

That’s all I know right now! But as I go along, I’ll be posting little updates so stayed tuned!

Free Books to Read After Turkey Dinner!

Read No Strings Attached Valentine

Now that the holidays are over, Vanessa Poppy’s exhausted. Working overtime at Kris Kringle Inn without a vacation left her feeling burnt out. Not that she could afford time away from the job she loves. Paying for her mom’s care at the facility takes most of her paycheck. Since it was her fault her mom became disabled, she has no choice but to ease her guilt through caring for the woman for the rest of her life.

Come to Winter Springs, Colorado, and meet the lively cast of characters you’re bound to fall in love with!

Get your FREE copy of Pursuing the Paramedic

Megan left Double Creek fifteen years ago because she wanted to leave her troubled past behind. As a Christian, she turned to her faith to help her overcome her addiction and stay sober.

As Megan and Ben reconnect and share their struggles, they discover the power of faith to heal even the deepest wounds. But Megan's secret threatens to tear them apart, and they must turn to God for guidance and strength. In this heartwarming Christian romance, two people learn that true love and forgiveness come from the grace of God, and that with faith, anything is possible.

So, Happy Thanksgiving! I’m so grateful for you reading my blog, so thank you! I hope you have a relaxing, grateful day! See you in December!