An original narrative builds to an unexpected conclusion that connects it to one of the most beloved stories in Christianity. A boy’s father is teaching him how to collect “tears” of sap, the bubbles that rise up and harden when the bark of a tree is cut. Under his skilled father’s guidance the boy collects his first one. “On the way home, I look at it again and again.” They usually sell their tears to a spice merchant, who sells them in turn to people wanting them for medicine, or to grind up and add to oil to anoint the body of someone who has died. On their next trip to the market the spice merchant is waiting for them with three customers who have come looking for a special gift: they already have gold and frankincense, with the selection of the boy’s tear, they add myrrh to their offerings for a baby. “I watch the three men mount their camels. I watch them leave the marketplace. I watch as they ride into the desert. And I wonder about the baby.” Linda Sue Park’s stirring, satisfying tale concludes with an author’s note providing a brief summary of accounts of the Wise Men. (Ages 4–9)

From two extraordinary talents, a beautifully crafted picture book for the Christmas season.

The three wise men, or the three kings, are familiar figures in the Christmas tradition. Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park has taken the brief biblical references to the three as the starting point for a new story.

In it we meet a boy who is learning his father’s trade; a man who gathers resin from certain trees; a merchant in the marketplace; and three strangers in brightly colored robes who are shopping for a gift for a baby.

Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline with exquisite paintings, this simple, moving tale of ordinary people involved in an extraordinary event brings new resonance to the well-known gift list of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.