*Dance in the Desert by Madeleine L’Engle

Dance in the Desert, a classic nativity story by Madeleine L’Engle, gets a new look in this 2025 revision.

*Dance in the Desert by Madeleine L’Engle, illustrated by Khoa Le. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2025. 32 pages.

• Reading Level: Picture books, ages 4-8
• Recommended For: Ages 4-10

The details of the nativity story are well known, even among non-Christians: shepherds, wise men, “no room at the inn,” animals gathered around a manger – even, more soberingly, the slaughter of the innocents. The flight to Egypt is almost never part of the story, partly because so little is known about it. All we know is Matthew’s account of Joseph being warned in a dream to escape Herod’s brutal order. How that happened is speculation, though most commentators reason that Jesus was by then about two years old: old enough to walk, and old enough to dance. 

Would he have had any sense of his divinity? Would those around him have seen anything different about him? Madeleine L’Engle’s text pictures a happy little boy, endlessly interested in the world around him, and that’s all the grownups in his caravan notice. Until, on their first night of travel, a wonderful event occurs. First, a lion appears, but he makes no aggressive moves. Instead, as the child approaches, the lion appears to bow before him, then rises to his feet in a stately dance. Next, a string of mice joyfully patters around the boy before settling down with the lion.

More animals appear, even a couple of mythical beasts, all paying happy homage to the child, until at last “they all danced together in a great, intricate circle around the caravan, the circle stretching, widening until all the creatures disappeared into the horizon or broke loose up into the sky.”

The story must recalls Isaiah 11, picturing a time when lions lie down with calves and wolves with lambs, “and a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah’s child is not Jesus, but what if animals, who sense things humans can’t, apprehended something special about the Son of God? Originally published in 1970, L’Engle’s elegant text has been lightly revised and given new swirling, moonlit illustration that conveys the delight and hope of a kingdom ushered in by the Prince of Peace.

*indicates a Redeemed Reader starred review, an outstanding example in its field.

Bottom Line: A fresh imagining of a little-noticed element of the Nativity, with joyful illustration.

Recommended Reading at Redeemed Reader

• Book Reviews: Three other holiday picture books by authors we love are Julie Berry’s Long Ago on a Silent Night, Katherine Rundell’s One Christmas Wish, and Mitali Perkins’s Holy Night and Little Star (which was also illustrated by Khoa Le!).
• Reflection: See Gladys Hunt’s thoughts on some of her favorite Christmas stories.
• Resource: Don’t miss our 2025 Recommended Christmas Gift Book List!

You may purchase Dance in the Desert from Amazon.