by Desmond Tutu ; illustrated by Nancy Tillman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 19, 2013
Abstract washes of light give way to equally lambent peaceable-kingdom scenes to illustrate Tutu’s rhapsodic retelling of the Bible creation story.
Drawn from his Children of God Storybook Bible (2010), the author’s simply phrased text highlights God’s love—which “bubbled over when there was nothing else”—as the motivating force behind each day’s acts of creation. The indistinct shape of a robed, standing figure can be discerned within the initial burst of radiance and also in later illustrations amid clouds and waves, at the heart of a flower and in the subtly modulated colors of various skies. Along with showers of sparkles in some scenes, Tillman recycles a visual element from her own The Crown on Your Head (2011) by clapping shiny crowns atop the heads of a racially diverse group of smiling children in the final illustrations. Further piling on the sentimentality, she transforms the magnificent, exactly detailed elephants, lions and other animals that pose grandly in earlier pictures to toylike figures at the children’s feet. “Isn’t it wonderful!” concludes God, clapping his hands. Yes, but here the wonder comes with a generous coating of goo. (Religion/picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Dec. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-310-72785-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
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by Gunhild Sehlin ; illustrated by Hélène Muller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 2016
A readable, pleasant story for patient listeners.
In this picture-book adaptation of an old Swedish story, Mary befriends the donkey that becomes her transportation from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
Mary first meets the little donkey at the town water well, and she is kind to the animal even though he is considered lazy and dirty. By coincidence, Mary’s husband, Joseph, buys that very donkey for Mary as it is the only one he can afford. Mary grooms the donkey and has Joseph make a new harness for him, and the donkey is transformed into a useful beast of burden. He carries Mary to Bethlehem on their difficult journey to be counted, and they are helped along the way by angels that appear at critical moments to guide them. When Mary’s child is born, the donkey is there to watch over the family when they sleep. This long-for-the-format story depicts Mary as a kind, cheerful woman who takes everything in stride, charming the donkey, a flock of birds, and even robbers encountered on the journey. Soft-focus illustrations in muted colors provide interesting details of the journey, with particularly appealing animal characters. Mary and Joseph and the shepherds all have olive skin and black hair. There is no author’s note to explain the origins of the story, only a back-cover note that the story is a classic chapter book for children in Sweden.
A readable, pleasant story for patient listeners. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-178250-294-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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by Shannon Stewart ; illustrated by Sabrina Gendron ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2019
A beautifully written page-turner about belonging.
Badir, a newly arrived Tunisian immigrant to Canada, rallies along with his classmates to save a beaver’s natural habitat from destruction by local residents annoyed by the animal’s constant damage to surrounding trees.
Badir is captivated by what he initially thinks is a huge, swimming rat, an animal he briefly spotted in a pond on his way back from school. With the help of the internet, his teacher, classmates, and also forthcoming strangers eager to share what they know, Badir soon learns that the little creature he spied in darkness is in fact a beaver, Canada’s national symbol. He also finds out that local residents, worried by how the beaver might harm the trees around its habitat, are starting a petition to have what they regard as a pest removed from the park. Unfazed by the task ahead, Badir, along with his classmates, organizes a countercampaign—brainstorming sessions, banners, and all. Who will ultimately get the upper hand? Will the beaver saga have a happy ending? With her gentle tale, Stewart does an excellent job at promoting cultural understanding, not only by foregrounding a young Muslim character and his family, but also by setting the story during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, introducing the reader to many of its facets and doing so with effortless grace. Gendron’s black-and-white illustrations depict a multiracial urban setting.
A beautifully written page-turner about belonging. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1727-2
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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