Bearing Gifts: A Christmas Adventure

Bearing Gifts books on the shelf!

Purchase Options

Available in hardcover, softcover*, and ebook. Follow the links to your preferred source.

1. Purchase hardcovers signed by the author directly from the MXP shop here.

2. Purchase hardcovers and ebooks directly from BookBaby (printer).

3. Purchase from your favorite online bookseller (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more; formats may vary)

* Softcover/paperback is a brand new format! Available only from Amazon.com.

About the Book

“On a night long ago, on the first night a bright star shone in the dark sky, the smallest of camels was born in a stable far, far east of Bethlehem.”

And so begins our Christmas tale, in which the unlikeliest of heroes joins the pilgrimage of the Three Kings to Bethlehem. Bearing Gifts follows Astor the camel’s adventures as he faces the perils of that long journey, carrying to Bethlehem the precious treasures to honor the Christ Child.

Amid his trials and challenges, Astor finds within himself his own precious gifts—strength to bear his burdens, courage to face his fears, and a heart full of light and love.

In the tradition of other Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Little Drummer BoyBearing Gifts is an adventure story for children of all ages, to be treasured alongside your family’s other favorite holiday tales.


As a children’s book collector, this has everything I look for. The story is inspiring and relatable to young children, the illustrations are beautiful and captivating. I look forward to many more works from this pair!

Elizabeth Miner

About the Author

Steve Arensberg writes stories to cultivate a sense of wonder (for the reader and himself): stories with a sense of magic and mystery, with worlds you can get lost in, characters you love (or love to hate), and stories that carry you along on a current of powerful emotion. “More wonder, please,” says Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic (a favorite book on writing) – and that’s exactly what Steve hopes his work brings to you, the reader. Bearing Gifts is his first book for children.

About the Illustrator

Polina Kotliar is a mother, an illustrator, and a graduate of Seneca College Animation program of Toronto, Canada. She has loved drawing animals since childhood — portraying their character and imagining their feelings has always come naturally to her. When Steve approached her to illustrate a story called Bearing Gifts, about the adventures of a little camel, her curiosity was ignited. Bearing Gifts is her first book for children.