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Note: (companion puppet available; contact author) |
WHAT MAKES "A CAMEL'S STORIES" UNIQUE?
The books 'grow with your child'. These interactive picture books are enjoyed by all ages. A grandmother
shares each of her grandchildren enjoy various parts of the book: One likes the camel facts, one likes the pictures,
and the other likes the story best. The stories may be told on many levels: Read captions on art pages to very young children;
older children and adults enjoy the drama of the full story and appreciate the optiontional reading and facts as well.
Teachers enjoy using them; fun stories uniquely told and scriptually accurate (Bible references are provided).
SEE BRIEF SUMMARY OF EACH BOOK BELOW: (Also MISSION STATEMENT; HISTORY and VISION of the PROJECT)
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"A CAMEL'S STORY, A Search for the Messiah" is the age old Bible story of the magi’s search for the new king with a "new twist" -- It's told by a camel! Xavier “didn’t give a camel’s whine about any old star”. Press Release When his master used Xavier as a pack animal HE WAS NOT HAPPY! After all, he was a racing camel, not a “common mule”. He whined and complained during the entire journey! When he meets the small boy, Jesus, he had to decide -- would he worship Him or not? You will laugh and cry with Xavier as you relate to his doubts and frustrations during the search. Learn how Jesus can change a heart from selfish, stubborn and proud to warm, loving and generous. The original book was published in March 2005 (by MK Publishing; 2.500 copies; ISBN# 09763271-0-4 and is no longer in print) It was published again through Xulon Press in May 2011. View video trailer : YouTube-A Search for the Messiah. |
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"A CAMEL'S STORY, I Met the Lamb" is a message of mercy and hope. Press Release In I Met the Lamb Xavier faces a tough question, one we all need to understand: why did Jesus have to die? It had been over 30 years since Xavier met the young king who had changed his stubborn heart. He was no longer the whiner and complainer we met in the first story. This time he could “hardly wait to hit the trail!” Xavier was sure he would find King Jesus living in a palace this time! On their way to Jerusalem they meet a young girl, Miriam, and her pet lamb. While watering the camels the girl begins to cry and confides in Xavier, “My Father chose him to be our Passover Lamb.” They continue on to Jerusalem. Here you will relate to Xavier’s confusion as he begins to unravel the mystery of the Passover. We learn why Jesus is called “the Lamb of God”. View video trailer: YouTube-I Met the Lamb |
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BOOK #3: 58 pages, full color "A CAMEL'S STORY, My Father's House" fills us with hope and joy as we embark with Xavier and his friends on the biggest adventure of their lives. Experience Xavier's joy as he discovers, his King Jesus is still alive! This story helps us relate the second coming of Christ to the Jewish Feast of Trumpets. Heaven is portrayed as a place we won't want to miss! Watch and be ready. He's the " Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" and "He's coming soon"! Their glimpse of eternity will inspire you to tell everyone the good news: Jesus is alive- He is still the King of Kings! Jesus loves you - His Kingdom is simply “out of this world”! Watch the video trailer: YouTube-My Father's House
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OUR MISSION STATEMENT: Spread faith in Jesus Christ to the next Generation!
HISTORY, PROGRESS and MISSION of the CAMEL STORY SERIES: 3-21-2025
Hi, My name is Sandy Hanson, author and co-illustrator of the Camel's Story Trilogy. I became a follower of Jesus Christ and the Camel's Story Trilogy has become part of my testimony. I had no ambitions to become an author; Laboratory medicine had been my career for over 35 years but my passion was spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please let me tell you how my books came to be. I first met Jesus at age 21 after struggling with my faith. I was searching for truth -- God showed me He is for real! My pastor challenged us one day. He said, "There's alot of things out there trying to get our kids attention. What are we going to do to get their attention for the LORD?" Puppets came to my mind immediately. . . I started creating puppets and doing puppet ministry--- We had so much fun! They called us "Puppet People"! It was through my puppet, Xavier B. Haven, that the Camel's Story was born. I was asked to do a puppet play for our church Christmas program in 2001. It featured a stubborn camel, Xavier, who was forced to carry the magi’s burdens during their 'Search for the Messiah'. My almost life-size camel puppet wouldn’t fit behind my puppet stage... I thought, "Oh well, the camel will 'tell his story' as the kids perform the play." I had a 'rough outline' in my head (I knew the camel would be proud in the beginning and humbled in the end when He met Jesus… that’s all I knew). The play would be a silent drama! If the story was to be narrated by the camel there would actually have to be a story to tell! I panicked a little! Oh No! I cried out, "Lord you're going to have to help me with this-- I've never written a story before!" As soon as my pen touched the paper the words came to me almost faster than I could write them down. The first Camel’s story was written in about 45 minutes -- The Camel's words are found on the story scrolls of each book. The simple play was directed by my friend. She did a wonderful job with a small cast of precious kids from our church. It was simple but so amazing and powerful! A short time after that play, I had a life changing dream: I saw a large book with big colorful pictures turning. There were Bible verses underneath each picture explaining the story. I didn't know what the explanation would be, but I knew it was my mission! The first book was published in 2005. Shortly after that I thought, "If a camel can live to be 50 years old, Xavier could have seen Jesus at the Cross!" The next two books, "I Met the Lamb" and "My Father's House" were completed over the next several years. The 3 Camel Story books were in my hands on my birthday, Sept. 1st ... My dream had literally come true! THANK YOU! I want to thank all who have helped this dream come true so far! First, I want to thank my family for their love, patience and promotion of the book. I want to thank my husband Brad who has been very patient and generous with his time and “technical consultations”. I am so thankful for his computer savvy and for using some of our savings too! I know this project could not have gone forth without his help and approval. I can't thank Kristi Delage enough! Kristi is a commercial artist who has spent 10-12 years and countless hours refining my rough illustrations. My Catholic friend transformed them into beautiful works of art. I still marvel at how she captured the drama of each scene with her choice of color and special techniques (over 78 art peices) – Each book is an adventure in itself! Patty Haukos is a phenomenal graphic designer! My Baptist friend helped me prepare all three books for Xulon Press. Through her efforts we were able to submit them "ready to publish". Patty used her expertise to enhance color and make slight improvements as she worked her “digital magic". She was instrumental in getting the story translated into both Russian and Ukrainian as she was on the missions board at her church and had connections with translators and printers through READ Ministries. God bless Read Ministries and Bill Arvan! The Camel's Story Trilogy was endorsed by READ Mnistries and presented to Smirna Publishing. READ's mission is to support Christian educational matierial to Ukraine. They have supported the translation, publication and distribution of all three books. Through generous donations the Trilogy has been translated into several languages. They were requested by the Ukrainian Depart of Education to be placed in public schools in the eastern region of Ukraine before the war started!
XAVIER LOVES MEETING NEW FRIENDS! We are so thankful to all who have helped Xavier spread the Good News: Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto Me and do not hinder them, for such is the Kingdom of God." Camel Camps were amazing! These were 3 day camps were held on beautiful Big Stone Lakeat BigStone Camp for Christ. Our first ever 'Camel Camp" was a huge success in July 2019. The 2nd camp was in July, 2021; the 3rd was a family camp in July, 2023. Thank you to Shirone and Paul Spolar of True Life Ministries and all the volunteers from our church and beyond who have helped make the camel stories come alive by sharing their wonderful tallents: Music, songs, puppets, ark parties, and more! Vacation Bible Schools and After School programs are fun too! Xavier the camel has had fun helping at a vacation Bible school in South Shore, South Dakota. I recently enjoyed helping with an after school program at Rosen MN. --Xavier loved meeting new friends at the Rosen Prairie Ballroom at the Red Barn! We had fun with lessons learned by Xavier the camel and puppet friends. Themes follow the camel story books: #1 FOLLOW the STAR (Creation); #2 MEET the LAMB (Jesus, The Good Shepherd), #3 MEET the KING! (Jesus is still King - Spread the Good News!) Our Mission: Our mission is to 'Spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the next generation'. . . .The message of these three books couldn't be more timely. Please consider helping us spread the Good News to our children and beyond. WHAT'S NEXT??? A CAMEL'S STORY MOVIE? Brett Wong is a special needs advocate and has insisted the Camel Story Trilogy be a movie since he received the first book as a young boy over 20 years ago-- Brett continues to be a major promoter insisting the Trilogy will be a live action animated movie. We believe "The Star" movie released in 2017 was inspired by the Camel Stories! I had sent a description of the first book including ISBN numbers to Oprah in 2006 hoping to promote the first book, A CAMEL'S STORY, A Search for the Messiah". I responded to a question on her website: "Do you have an idea you would like pushed to producers?" I asked them to consider doing a movie on the 'life changing power of Jesus Christ' sharing my belief that the story told through the Camel would reach multitudes with the age old message of the Christmas Story. Bill Arvan, director of READ Ministries, called me in the summer of 2017 asking if my books were being made into a movie, I said, "no" it must be a coincidence. It had been 10 1/2 years since I shared the idea with Opra. However, I researched how the movie came to be I thought... hmmmm? Maybe? ( I learned an original idea had been submitted and was pushed to the Jim Hensen puppet group, then to Devon Franklin (Sony) who said he'd been working on the STAR movie for 10 1/2 years -- It had been 10 1/2 years since I shared the idea!) Oprah said, "Whoever submitted this idea, well it's just a new way to be inspired by the age old Christmas Story! The animators did a beautiful job! ... The camel's were comic relief, with Oprah being the voice of the girl camel. The donkey was the main character. The story was told from the animal's perspective and every one who followed the STAR was changed! I loved it! Now is the Time: INTRODUCING OUR NEW MOVIE: "A CAMEL'S STORY - FOLLOW the STAR! " Let's bring Heaven to earth in mesmerizing color!We believe the story told from the camel's perspective will be a fun new way to share the Good News! WE NEED A MOVIE PRODUCER!A Camel's Story Community Pageant forms the "Story Board" for this new movie!
THE CAMEL'S STORY COMMUNITY PAGEANT: We believe the camel's story community pageant is the next right step and forms the foundation for the movie.. As Xavier, the time-traveling camel tells his story, live action drama and children's theatre reinforce the messages of the 3 Act play in a fun, yet thought provoking way. I believe it will be an amazing Community Pageant for all ages! The Camel Story Community Pageant --was completed on December 31, 2012. 50 copies were printed by Heritage printing in January 2023 and distributed for review. I asked Lisa Berdan, director of the Ortonville School theatre program, to review the pageant. She gave me a few technical suggestions. When I asked her if she would suggest any changes I was so humbled. I nearly fell over when she said, "I wouldn't change a thing!" Voice Over Artist captures the Camel's personality: "Voice Man Jake" did a wonderful job in his rendition of Xavier the camel's voice. He really captured Xavier's personality as he recorded the words of the time-traveling camel as penned in the skrolls of the Camel Story Trilogy. Now the pageant could be performed very simply: As the camel tells his story various live scenes of the 3-Act play are performed enhanced by 'In - Character solos and children's theatre in each of the 3 acts. Camel Story Drama Team: Several costumes have been created in preparation for the Camel Story Pageant. We have had wonderful encouragement and anticipate local voice try-outs for main characters; and we know children will enjoy practicing for the Children's theatre to be incorporated throughout the 3 acts. We plan on forming a Camel Story drama club and hope many will share their talents with us. Jesus Loves Everybody! We need a movie producer! The Camel's Story Trilogy was complete in 2012! My dream has literally come true! They are available locally and on line through Xulon press ...Please write a review. Thank you to this supportive community: A big thank you to all who have given your support and promoted the Camel Story project over the years. We appreciate everyone who has supported the project by purchasing the books, writing a book review, requesting books be made available at gift shops or stores, recommending the books to a friend, etc. Without this community's support, there would be no Camel Story Trilogy. Who would have thought that 3 stories told by a camel could help reinforce the foundations of our Christian faith? But that is our purpose! We are so excited for the future plans God has for the Camel's Story Trilogy (It's the story that never ends)! Please contact me if you are interested in helping in any way; feel free to reach out to me with questions or suggestions.
Sandy Hanson March 21, 2025 sandy@wat.midco.net |
