Christmas doesn’t need perfection—it just needs heart. In It Doesn’t Have to Be Magic , Naomi Armendáriz gathers tender, true-to-life stories that shimmer with the warmth of family, memory, and faith. Blending gentle nostalgia with quiet humor, these vignettes capture what makes the season sacred and sweet—from the smell of applesauce ornaments drying in the oven to walks home between luminaries glowing like stars along the ground. Each story reflects a simple truth: wonder isn’t something we manufacture with glitter and gifts—it’s what remains when we slow down enough to notice grace in ordinary places. Through moments both poignant and playful, Armendáriz invites readers to remember what it means to belong—to family, to faith, and to the unexplainable beauty of a winter night. Accompanied by pencil illustrations that feel lifted from memory itself, this book unfolds like a keepsake album—filled with laughter, candlelight, and the sacred hush that still descends each Christmas Eve. It Doesn’t Have to Be Magic is an invitation to rediscover the holy joy of things that last: kindness, gratitude, music, and love that lingers long after the lights are gone.