When Richard Paul Evans wrote The Christmas Box, he intended it as a private expression of love for his two young daughters, Jenna and Allyson. Though he often told them that he loved them, he didn't feel that they could ever really understand the depth of his feelings until they had experienced the joy of rearing their own children, and by that time their relationship would have changed forever. In writing The Christmas Box, he hoped that at some time in the future they would read the book and know of their father's love.
As Evans began to write, he was amazed at the inspiration that flowed into his mind and heart. He completed the moving story of a widow and the young family who comes to live with her in less than six weeks, and bound twenty copies to give as Christmas presents to family and friends. In the following weeks, those twenty copies were shared and passed along from family to family, from friend to friend, and what began as a tale for two little girls became a message of miracles, hope, and healing for people throughout the world.
Book Details
Format
Paperback
ISBN-10
1566840287
ISBN-13
9781566840286
Publication Date
Jan 1993
Item Weight
0.23 pounds
Length
7.01 inch
Width
4.49 inch
Height
0.51 inch
First Sentence
It may be that I am growing old in this world and have used up more than my share of allotted words and eager audiences.
Richard Paul Evans is an American author best known for writing *The Christmas Box* and, more recently, the Michael Vey series. Evans, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife Keri, five children, and one grandson.
Evans graduated with a B.A. from the University of Utah in 1984. While working as an advertising executive, he wrote a Christmas story for his children. Unable to find a publisher or an agent, he self-published the work in 1993 as a paperback novella entitled *The Christmas Box* and distributed it to bookstores in his community. The next year *The Christmas Box* hit #2 on the *New York Times* Best Seller list.
Released in hardcover in 1995, *The Christmas Box* (Simon & Schuster) became the first book to simultaneously reach the #1 position on the *New York Times* Best Seller List for both paperback and hardcover editions. That same year, the book was made into a television movie of the same title.
Evans has subsequently written 36 nationally best-selling books, including some for children, with conservative Christian themes and appealing to family values. His 1996 book *Timepiece* was made into a television movie, as were *The Locket* (1998), *A Perfect Day* (2006), *The Mistletoe Promise* (2016), and *The Mistletoe Inn* (2017).
In 1997, Evans founded Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. As of 2017, more than 35,000 children had been served by Christmas Box House facilities.
Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Paul_Evans)
