The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a 1972 children’s book by Barbara Robinson. It tells the story of six misbehaving children—the Herdmans—and their unexpected involvement with the town’s annual Christmas pageant. Told in first person by an unnamed narrator, it explores themes of Redemption, Perspective and Judgment, and Tradition. Robinson has a masterful ability to mix Roald Dahl-esque humor and nastiness with timeless lessons that will have a particular appeal to Christian readers who enjoy a fresh look at the Christmas story. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was adapted into a play, a TV movie, and a musical. Robinson also wrote two sequels about the Herdmans: The Best Halloween Ever and The Best School Year Ever.

This guide refers to the Kindle e-book edition.

Plot Summary

When the story begins, the town is planning its annual Christmas pageant. When the woman who usually plans the pageant gets injured, the narrator’s mother—written as “Mother” in this guide—replaces her. Everything proceeds as usual until the six Herdman children—the worst children in the world, according to the narrator—take the lead roles. The Herdmans have no father, and their mother works long shifts to get away from them. They occupy themselves with bullying each other and other children and getting into mischief. The story begins after they burn down a toolshed while playing with a stolen chemistry kit.

The Herdmans never come to church. However, hoping to get them to stop taking his snacks, the narrator’s brother, Charlie, tells the Herdmans that Sunday school has the best snacks. The Herdmans come to church that Sunday, where they are instantly—and somewhat inexplicably—captivated by the idea of a pageant. They take the lead roles through intimidation. Imogene threatens Alice, who always plays Mary, not to volunteer. Imogene’s brother, Leroy, becomes Joseph. Gladys Herdman is the Angel of the Lord, and the other three brothers will play the Wise Men.

Throughout the rehearsals, Alice takes notes on the Herdmans, placing particular emphasis on anything she deems blasphemous or unseemly. The Herdmans take their roles seriously. They haven’t heard the Bible story before, so they have no issue pointing out aspects of the story that confuse them. For instance, the Herdmans are outraged that no one is willing to make room for a pregnant woman at the inn. They also think the Wise Men’s gifts are nonsensical trinkets unsuitable for a baby.

Alice takes issue with the Herdmans even mentioning that Mary is pregnant. Imogene doesn’t understand why Mary can’t choose her baby’s name. Nothing goes well, and the pageant appears poised for disaster when Imogene smokes a cigar in the bathroom. This results in an evacuation and a visit from the fire department. Mother then tells the Reverend Hopkins that they can’t cancel. She also promises that this will be their greatest pageant yet. She is a great example of faith in the book, although she doesn’t know what will happen.

On the night of the pageant, they have the usual errors—kids singing out of tune, forgetting the words, forgotten costumes, etc.—but the Herdmans have an unexpected effect on the pageant and the crowd. The Wise Men bring a ham for their gift to Jesus. The ham was actually a gift to the Herdmans from the charitable works committee. The narrator notices that Imogene burps the baby Jesus—a doll—before putting him in the manger. Later, the narrator sees Imogene crying as the crowd sings “Silent Night,” as if she suddenly understands what Christmas is.

When the pageant ends, the narrator thinks she would prefer it if the Herdmans were always in charge. They refuse to take their ham home with them. Everyone agrees it was the best pageant ever, but no one knows exactly why. She thinks it’s because the Herdmans treated the Christmas story as if it were a real event, not something they commemorate with a pageant each year. She now sees the Christmas story from a new perspective, which helps her understand how little thought she and others put into it most years.