One of my favorite books I read during the past Christmas and current Epiphany season was I Saw Three Ships By Elizabeth Goudge (published in 1969).
This short novel is set in a seaside English village during the Napoleonic Era and features a young girl experiencing her first Christmas after the death of her parents. She faces the holiday with her childlike wonder and faith intact and affects the adults around her in a delightful way.
This is considered a children’s novel, but I found it to be a great encouragement for adults to keep believing Jesus with a childlike faith.
Check out this enlightening essay by Deborah Gaudin about I See Three Ships at The Elizabeth Goudge Society Website. However, she mentions a different illustrator for the British edition than the American edition I have pictured above has.
Have you read this story in either British or American edition? What did you think of it?