JWK: What drew you to write Christmas in Heaven?

Anthony DeStefano: Well, I’m always interested in writing books about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas has obviously been secularized almost beyond recognition. I’ve written several children’s books already about the Nativity. This time I wanted to try something different.

When I was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn, New York, I didn’t understand why we gave each other presents at Christmas. I remember asking my father when I was very young about this and the way he explained it was that it was Jesus’ birthday and, since we couldn’t give Jesus a physical present because He was in Heaven, we should give each other presents since that was what made Jesus happiest. This was an easy concept to understand. All kids understand birthdays and gift giving at birthdays.

That childhood idea is what led me to asking myself “How exactly do they celebrate Jesus’ birthday in Heaven?” Obviously as adults we know there must be great joy in Heaven at Christmas, celebrating the Incarnation but, for little kids, it’s much more understandable to say that they are having a “birthday party” of sorts. That naturally led me to ask myself—“Who would be at such a party?” The answer was, of course, the angels and saints.

The way I was able to finally make the idea into a story—because everything is better as a story, especially for children—is to have a little boy who is sad that his grandmother has died, and it’s Christmastime, and he’s wondering how she is celebrating Christmas in Heaven. So, his grandfather— the husband of the woman who has died— sits the boy on his knee and tries to paint a consoling picture for him of Heaven and the big birthday celebration that’s going on there with all the angels and saints and, of course, Our Lord and the little boy’s grandmother too. So that was the genesis of this book.

JWK: What ages is it aimed at?

AD: I tell people that my children’s books are written for kids who are 5 years old to 105 years old and I’m really only half-joking. The illustrations and the simplicity of the general story can be understood by any child of reading age – but naturally we know that most times adults will be reading these books to the children in their lives. I’m always keenly aware that parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and older siblings are the ones who are being asked by children to sit down with them and read them a story – and sometimes they are asked to read that story over and over again. Why would I miss the chance to evangelize that huge captive audience of adults? So I always try to include layers of meaning in my children’s books that ONLY adults will comprehend. In fact, the reason I started writing children’s books in the first place was because I’ve always been awestruck by Jesus’ parables. Young people can understand them and people with little education can understand them – but, at the same time, they have depths that the greatest theologians and philosophers are still exploring today. They work on so many levels. So, from the beginning of my writing career, I thought that it would be wonderful to try to do something like that in children’s books. I want kids to be able to get the main message in a powerful, entertaining way but I also want the adults who are reading these books to the kids to get something out of them too, some deeper understanding.

JWK: What do you hope kids take from the book?

AD: I don’t think there can be too many books about the true meaning of Christmas. There’s been a systematic attempt by the secular culture to take our most sacred holidays and transform them into almost-pagan rituals and celebrations that don’t have any trace of Christian teaching or Christian morality. It’s not just Christmas. It’s Easter too, with the Easter Bunny. So, I’m always trying in all my writing not only to entertain children and to impart a theologically correct Christian message but, where possible, I want to do my little part to take back these holidays.

That’s why last year I wrote a children’s book called The Story of The First Easter Bunny which is about a rabbit who witnesses the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It’s all part of the fight to take back and reclaim from the culture what belongs to us.

In terms of what I want people to get out of this book, I’d say three things. First—the true meaning of Christmas—which is that it’s Jesus’ birthday; Second—the fact that Heaven is a joyful, wonderful place, nothing for children to be frightened about; and third—I want children to at least get a glimpse of the world of the saints, which is really a glimpse of the beautiful belief we have in the Body of Christ—a Body that exists not just here on Earth but in Heaven too; a belief that says there’s a lot more to life than just what we see around us; that there is an invisible, spiritual world that’s just as important and that the saints in Heaven are real and they’re alive and that, hopefully, one day we will be there among them.

Christmas is such a magical holiday but it’s also a very sad time of year for many people who have lost loved ones. I’d like to impress upon children that, even if people have died, Christmas can still be a joyful time because those loved ones, hopefully, are in Heaven and we WILL get to see them again someday. I tell my atheist friends that the difference between Christians and unbelievers isn’t that Christians suffer and grieve any less than them; it’s that we suffer and grieve with hope. That’s the main message I’d like to get across to readers, young and old alike.

JWK: It seems to me to be a very explicitly Catholic and child-like view of the afterlife. Do you feel its important to offer Catholic parents a simple view of Heaven that they can grasp? 

AD: I disagree with this characterization of the book. Yes, the book has a more Catholic flavor because it depicts saints that Catholics are more familiar with – but Protestants believe in saints every bit as much as Catholics do. Saints are just followers of Jesus who have been saved and are in Heaven now with the Lord. Many of the saints I portray in this book are taken right from the pages of the Bible— St. Gabriel and St. Michael the Archangel, St. Peter, St. Joseph, St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. John, St. Mark, St. Martha, St. Jude the Apostle, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and of course, the Lord Himself whose birthday is being celebrated.

The book is steeped in the Bible. And yes, while the idea of a “birthday party” in Heaven is child-friendly, it’s certainly a true idea that is based in Scripture. Indeed, Heaven is described in many places in the Bible as a “banquet.” Certainly there is great joy there at Christmastime – the celebration of the Incarnation; the celebration of God emptying Himself and becoming One of us in everything except sin. Thus, this is really a profound idea I’m trying to convey in this book and, while it is written in a simple way and accompanied by colorful, beautiful illustrations, I believe that is how we can make this sublimely profound idea of the joy of Heaven and the Incarnation understandable to children. Also, the fact that the saints (are) alive in Christ Jesus and are doing things and (are) actively engaged in worshiping and praising the Lord is also a deep concept.

So many people have a simplistic and overly spiritualized view of Heaven. They think that Heaven is just white and cloudy with wispy angels flying around with flowing robes! How cartoonish! Christians believe that Heaven is REAL. If this world we are living in now is real, Heaven is not going to be less real than that! Heaven— after the Resurrection— is going to be more colorful, more dynamic, more full of activity and love and joy than anything we’ve experienced on Earth.

As the Bible says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). That means that, if your mother has died and gone to Heaven, someday after the Resurrection when you see her again you’re not going to be seeing a ghost. You’re going to be seeing someone with a real, living glorified body. You’ll be able to run up to her, hug her, kiss her, feel the warmth of her skin and hear her voice again. That’s what Christians believe about Heaven and THAT’s the truth I’m trying to convey in this little story. So, I don’t (think) it’s either too Catholic or too child-like in its view of the afterlife.

JWK: How important is that foundation as children move into adulthood?

AD: I think it’s very important to be honest with our children about death and grieving and the afterlife. I never shy away from talking about death in my books because that’s something all of us, including children, have to deal with. We all have to deal with the death of loved ones at some point. Children often grieve over the death of pets, the death of grandparents and there are many other kinds of permanent loss they experience as well. It’s very important that we don’t sweep these sad feelings under the rug where those feelings can fester and transform into complexes and depressions and phobias and all kinds of psychological problems.

Fortunately, as Christians, we believe that death doesn’t have the final word. The final word is resurrection and life everlasting in Heaven. That’s a tremendously consoling belief that can help us deal with grief in a healthy way. Also, I believe that it’s good to talk to children about Heaven from a very early age. The subject of Heaven, when you think about it, is so simple for children to understand. Heaven is just God’s home. When people who love the Lord die, they go to live in God’s home. They just move homes. They go from their home here on Earth to God’s home in Heaven. That’s something all children can understand because they’re very familiar with the concept of going over to their grandparent’s home, or their aunt’s home, or their neighbor’s home, or to different building to school. They understand the concept of moving from place to place. So, the more we’re able to show children how wonderful a place Heaven is the more consolation they’ll experience when they’re grieving about a loved one who is moving to that place.

JWK: This is actually your fifth children’s Christmas book. Can you tell us about the others?

AD: Yes, in my five children’s Christmas stories I’ve tried to impart the true meaning of Christmas from different perspectives with each book emphasizing a unique part of the Christmas message. As I’ve described, Christmas in Heaven addresses the theme of hope and eternal life as a young boy imagines his grandmother celebrating Jesus’ birthday in Heaven. The Grumpy Old Ox follows a blind, embittered ox who is transformed by grace after witnessing Christ’s birth, showing a journey from pride to faith and healing. The Beggar and the Bluebird is a modern fairy tale about selflessness featuring a little bird who delays his migration southward to fulfill a beggar’s requests, discovering divine love and reward in unexpected ways. Joseph’s Donkey tells the story of the loyal donkey that carries Mary and Jesus, introducing children to Joseph’s character as a strong, hard-working and just man. Finally, Little Star is about the smallest star in the heavens who alone recognizes Jesus as the King of Kings, shining brightly to warm the Holy Family and guide the Magi and, in the process, demonstrating the meaning of true love. I’m trying in all these Christmas stories to impart to children, as well as adults, lessons about hope, faith, sacrifice, love, and humility.

JWK: What’s next for you?

AD: I’ve got several children’s books coming out next year but I also have one non-fiction book for Christians that will be published in June that I’m very excited about. It’s called The Miracle Book: A Simple Guide to Asking for the Impossible. Everyone needs a miracle sometime. The miracle might have to do with a person’s health, or finances, or job, or marriage, or children, or general feelings of anxiety and hopelessness – but, at some point, regardless of a person’s level of religious faith, there comes a time when he or she just needs supernatural help. Many books have been written on miracles before but very few of them really explain in clear, theologically sound language how to pray for one.

So many people in the world are suffering at this very moment. They beg God, plead with him, “negotiate” with him, and promise him they will change their ways, if only he will grant them this one request. Then, if God fails to answer their prayer, they lose faith, or get angry at God, or become anxiety-ridden, or sink into despair. Even Christians are genuinely perplexed when it comes to the subject of miracles. Is obtaining a miracle like winning the lottery—overcoming odds that are ten million to one? Or is it true that “miracles happen every day”?

What can Jesus have meant when He said “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you,” when it seems that most of the times people ask for a miracle they are met with either a refusal from God or silence? There must be an answer. There must be a method of praying for a miracle that at least guarantees the best possible chance of God saying “yes” or that at least results in God giving us an answer that satisfies and alleviates our anxiety. This book explains that method and, in the process, hopefully demonstrates exactly how God can infuse courage into our souls, help us to overcome our fears and experience the “peace that transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
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Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11