by Demi ; illustrated by Demi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2017
A visually pleasing collection with appeal for those families who wish to introduce a universal approach to religious...
This collection of short prayers from different religions around the world is presented with intricate illustrations showing related settings and people.
Over her extensive career, author/illustrator Demi has profiled many individual religious leaders in well-received biographies for children. With this collection, she introduces groups of short, often well-known prayers representative of many of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Single prayers are included from Taoism, Shintoism, the Lakota people, and the Luba people of central Africa. The illustration for each prayer includes a group of representative humans, such as Buddhist monks and children praying at a Buddhist temple or a group of Jews praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Demi’s highly detailed illustrations with signature touches of gold are intriguing and well-researched, including people of many ethnicities and ages. An introduction from the author details her inclusive view of the common threads that underlie all these different religious traditions as well as her goal of fostering “tolerance and respect” through the combination of her choice of prayers and visual interpretations. Two concluding pages give specific notes on the prayers and on related illustrations.
A visually pleasing collection with appeal for those families who wish to introduce a universal approach to religious education, suitable for the religion section in larger libraries. (Picture book/religion. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-937786-69-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
by Agostino Traini ; illustrated by Agostino Traini ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018
Skip.
Jesus pops up.
“It had been three days since Jesus died on a cross, and his friends were sad.” So Traini (The Life of Martin Luther, 2017) opens his ingenuously retold version of the first Easter. Beginning with two unnamed women clambering down a rocky hill to the graveyard, each of the seven tableaux features human figures with oversized eyes, light brown skin, and solemn or awed expressions posing in a sparsely decorated setting. The women hurry off at the behest of the angel lounging casually in a tomb bedecked with large crystals and fossil seashells to inform the “other disciples” of what’s happened. Along the way the women meet Jesus himself (“Greetings, my friends!”), who goes on to urge disciples “hiding inside a locked room” to touch his discreetly wounded hands. He later shares breakfast (“fish, of course!”) with Peter and others, then ascends from a mountaintop to heaven. Though the 3-D art and the flashes of irreverence set this sketchy rendition of the story apart from more conventional versions, the significance of the event never really comes clear…nor can it match for depth of feeling the stately likes of Jan Pienkowski’s Easter (1983). In the final scene Pentecostal flames appear over the heads of the disciples, leaving them endowed with the gift of tongues and eager to spread the “good news about Jesus!”
Skip. (Pop-up picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5064-3340-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Sparkhouse
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Agostino Traini
BOOK REVIEW
by Agostino Traini ; illustrated by Agostino Traini
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Oliver Dominguez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2018
It’s not perfect, but it deserves solid consideration.
Otheguy presents a succinct chronicle of Pope Francis’ trajectory from his childhood in Buenos Aires to his papacy in Rome.
Straightforward storytelling reveals Jorge Bergoglio as a prayerful boy who loved soccer and learned about the goodness of all people from his grandma Rosa. As an adult, he became a Jesuit priest as part of his search to help people and eventually became the first South American and Jesuit pope in 2013. Otheguy successfully weaves Catholic concepts into the historical narrative, such as the election process for a new pope, and defines such potentially unfamiliar terms as “pontiff” while she underscores his care for prisoners, refugees, the planet, and children. Extensive backmatter, including a moving and personal author’s note and citations for the primary source quotations, elevates the historical content further. While the book succeeds in narration, it struggles in illustration. Depictions of Pope Francis are strong and realistic, but supporting characters, such as the cardinals, lack refinement. The book’s design is predictable: one or more paragraphs of text paired with Dominguez’s literal illustrations in acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink, and pastel that bleed across the gutter. The overuse of jagged lines to represent sounds (think: ZAP! and POW! from 1960s TV Batman) is slightly tiresome; the figures’ gestures are enough to connote action. In spite of the shortfalls in illustration, this is an uplifting and solidly researched book about a significant world leader.
It’s not perfect, but it deserves solid consideration. (timeline, glossary, selected bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-560-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Emma Otheguy
BOOK REVIEW
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios
BOOK REVIEW
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal
BOOK REVIEW
by Emma Otheguy ; illustrated by Andrés Landazábal
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.