An excellent choice for family reading or religious education programs.
The Christian Bible is skillfully summarized in 50 episodes in this accessible, illustrated interpretation.
The book is arranged in five sections, each preceded by a short introduction. The thoughtful design also includes one or two explanatory sentences at the beginning of each episode, which help to place that particular story in the larger biblical context. The relevant Bible chapters and verses for each story are listed, along with short verse extracts printed at the sides of many pages. The verses are taken (or in some cases adapted) from the Good News Bible. Each Bible story is retold in five pages of text, which include spot illustrations on every spread that are supplemented by one full-page illustration per story. The text is smoothly written, with an engaging style that incorporates lots of dialogue, and the violence that is part of many Bible stories is minimized. Attractive illustrations with a soft focus and muted palette are sophisticated enough to appeal to older children, and the volume’s small-but-thick size also gives it the look of a book intended for children in upper-elementary grades or middle school.
An excellent choice for family reading or religious education programs. (Religion. 7-13)Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6914-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Lion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tender, honest, and beautifully written story about family, faith, and friendship.
Louisa Emerson copes with the sadness and stress of her alcoholic dad, remarried mom, new stepdad, and a move to the suburbs.
Fifth grader Lou loves her small apartment in San Francisco; her mom; her 15-year-old sister, Casey; her BFF, Beth; sad books; and, despite the pain and uncertainty he causes, her usually drunk dad. Lou’s life is being uprooted, however, because Mom is marrying oversolicitous Steve, a man from church who proposed after only three dates. Since Steve lives in his large childhood home in Pacifica—and Lou’s family is barely getting by financially in the city—they are moving in with Steve, and only Mom and Steve seem happy about that. On her 11th birthday, Lou anonymously receives a guitar that she believes is from her dad. After the Emerson girls move, Lou befriends Marcus and Shannon, a charming couple with three young kids who live on Steve’s block. They quickly become the sisters’ trusted adults, and Marcus gives Lou guitar lessons. In her middle-grade debut, noted YA author Zarr writes exactly the sort of kid Lou herself favors: one that thoughtfully tackles tough issues like substance abuse, parental abandonment, the difficulties of change, and blended families. The story also features church and Christian themes in a refreshingly positive and affirming way. Lou’s family is White; supporting characters include Chinese American Beth and Filipino American Marcus.
A tender, honest, and beautifully written story about family, faith, and friendship. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-304492-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
Sunday school teachers may find this useful to supplement their students’ knowledge of the Reformation.
The story of the 16th-century German monk and the start of the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther’s life and work are presented as the origin of the modern social justice movement. Archival portraits, maps, and documents on glossy pages play a prominent role in this attractive book. Some design elements are problematic, however. A decorative initial “F” is easily mistaken for an “E,” making the line “Fast. Pray. Work” one that’s easy to stumble over: is it “East. Pray. Work”? “Eat. Pray. Work”? Short sentences and simple narrative suggest a young audience, yet the vocabulary—theology, heresy, edict, recant—assumes a working knowledge of church history, implying an older audience. Some clunky phrasing (possibly due to the translation) could lead to misinterpretation: of Lutheranism’s spread around the world, Elschner states that “as ships reached the coast of North America emigrants founded the first communities, many with Protestant churches.” A transition from Luther’s life to contemporary times is achieved somewhat awkwardly by equating Luther’s posting of his 95 theses with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, notwithstanding the possibly greater influence of Gandhi on King’s activism. Perhaps in an effort to make the Reformation feel relevant to modern readers, this biography opens with the words “Here is where it all began” and ends with “The name of Martin Luther lives on, now doubled, and continues to travel across borders.”
Sunday school teachers may find this useful to supplement their students’ knowledge of the Reformation. (Biography. 7-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-988-8341-34-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
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