Review: The Little Drummer Boy Shows Beauty Of Simple Gifts

“It’s the thought that counts.” How many times have you heard people say that?

Well, in The Little Drummer Boy,  Ezra Jack Keats throws in whimsical illustrations with the song lyrics to “The Little Drummer Boy” in order to show people that the thought of the gift matters most. A little boy was told that a King was born and to honor him he was to bring a gift for him. But this boy is very poor, and all he has is a drum and drumsticks. Shall he play for Jesus? On his drum? 

The illustrations were really nice; it showed diverse characters, and the pictures helped me imagine his journey before he met the King, because when I hear the song, all I imagine is the little boy sitting next to Jesus playing his drum. 

I liked this picture book because it shows people that price doesn’t matter when you give a gift. In The Little Drummer Boy, while the three wise men are shown bringing the finest gifts, all the little boy did was play on his drum and Jesus was happy. This story comes from a very popular Christmas song that many different people sing. In our family, we really like the versions by the Jackson 5 and also Pentatonix. It’s also cool that the book has the sheet music for the song at the back, so I played it on the piano.

In the Bible, it says the three wise men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the King,  one who would save everyone one day,  but I was so surprised to learn that the Drummer Boy is a FICTIONAL character! He is not in the Bible. It’s a little bit of a let down.

I recommend this book to younger kids, like 3-6 years old. But it was pretty basic for an older kid like me.

I rate the book 3 out of 4 roses.