Exploring the Joy of Christmas: Stories, Recipes, Carols & More from the Stars of A&E’s Duck Dynasty Phil and Kay Roberson with Bob DeMoss (2015)

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This year, my family has enjoyed watching Duck Dynasty DVDs that we brought over here. This is our first time watching them, and even though it took a while for my wife to get used to the Louisiana drawl, boy we’re liking it!

Quick Summary of Exploring the Joy of Christmas

Phil and Kay Robertson deliver this Christmas book with the same, legit personalities they show on-air—Phil the non-nonsense frontiersman, and Kay the sentimental homemaker—yet constantly couched in the humor of life and the love of Jesus. Take this line from Phil for example, and tell me you don’t read it with his voice in your head:

I see them yuppies whipping out their platinum credit cards buying everything in sight thinking their purchases will make them happy, happy, happy. When the bill comes due, get back to me on how that joy is working out, see what I’m saying? (6)

I found this book to be a delightful romp through new (and oftentimes longer) stories from their past involving many of the same wild characters and family members we see on TV.

The first six chapters are humorous and heartwarming, and they include the Gospel throughout. Chapters 7-9 are a collection of favorite movies (with discussion and application questions for the family), the lyrics to their favorite Christmas carols (which honestly felt like a waste of space, as if people are going to hold this book like a hymnal!), and some Louisiana recipes that I’m sure we’ve seen on their closing-credit spreads over the years.

Phil Robertson’s Life and Legacy

Phil closes the book with another look as his familiar yet fascinating story of moving from drunken home-wrecker to godly patriarch, all thanks to the love of gift and Jesus. It’s the story you might have seen in his biopic, The Blind (2023) which is well worth a watch!

The fact that Phill passed on to glory in May of this year makes it a poignant reminder for readers—this could be your last Christmas as well. Take a look at your own past. Wonder how Almighty God can enter your present and change your future. Phil wrote this about his own future:

It’s an undeniable fact that the “Phil of Christmas Future” will be eternally happy, happy, happy because of His incredible promise: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:3–5). (91)

Christmas isn’t just the time to take a break from work to watch movies with family and drink hot cocoa—though it’s wonderful for the atmosphere! It’s all about recognizing that God Himself entered this world as a human, a humble and dirty child—Emmanuel, God with us—so that He could live a life like ours (yet free from sin) and die a death He didn’t deserve on our behalf. It’s a time to shout it from the rooftops (or “Go Tell It on the Mountain”) that Jesus truly came and He truly saves.

Conclusion

This was simple yet pleasant book for me to read this Christmas—poignant both because of my family’s own enjoyment of the Duck Dynasty series and because of Phil’s passing just 7 months ago.

It’ll be a bittersweet Christmas for the Robinsons this year, knowing that Phil’s not filling that Lazy-Boy at Christmas yet knowing he’s with the Savior he loved so much. I pray this book gets read by those who need it this Christmas—and one long Gospel tract and an entertaining one at that.

©2025 E.T.

Read More from Duck Dynasty:

• Exploring the Joy of Christmas by Phil and Kay Robertson (2015)
• Un-Canceled by Phil Robertson (2022)