A visually appealing Gnostic origin myth sure to engage spiritually curious families.
Ropp reimagines one of Gnosticism’s most complicated myths in this picture book.
In this simplified adaptation of The Tripartite Tractate from the Nag Hammadi codices, the author introduces young readers to one of the earliest portrayals of Christ, from a creation story long excluded from the New Testament. In the beginning, Father and Son set out to build paradise with the help of angels. The youngest, Logos, eager to create that paradise alone, falls from heaven and fractures into two beings, one remembering the Father and the Son, the other a shadow-self who has forgotten them. The broken paradise left behind becomes the world we know, tended by divine children who gradually forget their purpose (“They started fighting a never-ending war”). Ropp makes the intricate theology vivid and approachable, showing time and again a world that is broken until love returns to it. Elfaza Studio’s illustrations use bold lines and exaggerated expressions to depict a dynamic, approachable cast of angels, animals, and people. The color palette captures Heaven’s warmth, the dark wetness of a fallen paradise, and emotional shifts from love to rage to selfishness. The author makes the complex material accessible, drawing parallels between humanity’s past follies and today’s influencer culture and shallow consumerism. Making such challenging, meditative ideas sit comfortably on a child’s nightstand is an impressive achievement.
A visually appealing Gnostic origin myth sure to engage spiritually curious families.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798218801991
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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