MOSES AND THE ANGELS
by Ileene Smith Sobel & illustrated by Mark Podwal
In a collection that shows religion brushed with mystery, Sobel retells the stories of Moses, who is always surrounded by angels, his life washed in magic, miracles, and exaggerations. Derived, according to an introduction by Elie Wiesel, from biblical commentaries, the tales cover familiar ground (Moses’s adoption by the pharaoh’s daughter, the plagues, the freeing of Israel, and the years in the desert) and more fantastic realms, with tours through the seven heavens, visions of the future, and battles among the angels, who guide and protect Moses at every stage of his life. By turns serious and delightfully eccentric, these unusual renderings of the old stories are matched by Podwal’s iconic, vibrant paintings. It’s an entertaining volume, surely destined for applications beyond the obvious religious ones. (Folklore. 8-12)