Brief of text but memorably illustrated.
Some of Jesus’ message is here, but the focus is on selected miracles and the wonder thereof.
An “unusual Man” comes to “a dry and dusty land” needing “the kind of living water that would last forever.” When he speaks, his words burst into teeming flights of butterflies, lightning bolts, monumental wood and stone letters, or page-filling arrays of exclamatory display type. Again and again as disciples and others look on with awed or worried expressions, this “Miracle Man”—a skinny, light-brown, often smiling figure with a ragged black beard in the carefully detailed illustrations—works wonders. He heals the sick, walks on water, feeds the multitude from a small basket of loaves and fishes, and more. At last he announces his betrayal, then dies to rise again, amid a flutter of butterflies. (Judas only points from a distance, and Jesus is seen dragging his cross but not actually on it.) Hendrix draws from various New Testament books and versions but retells each miracle in his own words. In the interest of brevity he leaves out the Marys and other significant figures, noting this in the afterword. Katherine Paterson offers younger children a fuller version of the oft-told story in The Light of the World (2008), but the Jesus in François Roca’s pictures is less approachable than that in Hendrix’s.
Brief of text but memorably illustrated. (Picture book/religion. 5-9)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1899-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Those who favor a literal interpretation of Bible stories and fans of Smith’s popular series will probably feel that this...
This interpretation of the story of Noah and his Ark combines the familiar Old Testament story with perennially popular LEGO® building blocks used to create the illustrations.
The story is told in contemporary language with no reference to a particular version of the Bible or location of the relevant verses. God is depicted as an old, bearded white (or yellowish plastic) man in a white robe, and the animals and human characters are all familiar LEGO® shapes, humorously arranged in creative scenes. Smith’s series of Bible stories, the Brick Testament, has provoked controversy due to the violence depicted in some illustrations. This latest addition to the series does not shy away from the difficult issues inherent in the story. Blood (translucent red LEGO® blocks), battles and burning denote evil behavior ("God looked at the world and saw that all the people were very bad"); drowning people and the torso of a body can be seen as the waters rise, and (smiling) skeletons litter the ground when Noah and his family exit the Ark. A note for parents by a religious educator is included with guidelines for explaining the Noah’s Ark story to children.
Those who favor a literal interpretation of Bible stories and fans of Smith’s popular series will probably feel that this floats their boat; those looking for a gentler (and less visually ridiculous) introduction to the popular story should look elsewhere. (Picture book/religion. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61608-737-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
A visual—and, it must be said, spiritual—delight.
With images of surpassing beauty and power and a text both simple and lyrical, Diaz and Schmidt tell the life of the first black saint of the Americas.
Martín’s mother was African, his father a Spanish nobleman. His father took his children from Lima, Peru, where they lived in desperate poverty, to Ecuador, where he gave them his name. Back in Lima, Martín was apprenticed to a healer, and at 15 he asked admittance to the monastery. Because of his mixed blood he could not be a priest, but he offered himself as a servant. His gifts as a healer became known throughout the city, and Spanish nobles waited for his healing touch while he first tended the poorest and most desperate, both human and animal. Schmidt recounts the story using repeated motifs: the dark eyes of the boy; the frowns of the Spaniards; the name-calling. Diaz achieves an extraordinary luminosity in his illustrations. The tenderness with which Martín treats his charges, the vivid expressions of those who scorn him and those who rely on him, and the balance of shape and stunning color make each page shine. A note offers further details, but, alas, there is no bibliography.
A visual—and, it must be said, spiritual—delight. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)Pub Date: June 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-61218-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
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