While children’s situations won’t always match those presented here, the author has provided a model for how to talk with...
Christian prayers in everyday language address the common fears, hopes, and worries of children.
As young children turn to their parents for help and solace, so too do many turn to God in times of trouble and in gratitude. But what language to use? Does praying help? Steinkühler’s collection addresses those questions by pairing concerns of children—fear of the dark, a grandparent’s death, moving, loneliness, sickness, jealousy—with passages from the Bible. When a lost pet is found, the prayer is like that of the prodigal son’s father. Sibling rivalry? Pray like Mary’s sister Martha or Joseph’s brothers. But the audience for this is difficult to pin down. Much of the language and issues are aimed at older children than those who are afraid of thunderstorms or desperately want a pet: “Wise King, Bright Light, / I ask for forgiveness.” And several are less prayers than one-sided conversations with God: “You’ll look the other way, won’t you? / When I do this one small thing?... / Even though I know it’s not right.” The vignette and full-page illustrations vary among biblical scenes and symbolism and more modern ones. The people’s faces are expressive though not especially diverse. A table of contents arranged by topic and a list of the referenced Bible verses in the back help readers address specific matters.
While children’s situations won’t always match those presented here, the author has provided a model for how to talk with God. (Picture book/religion. 5-10)Pub Date: March 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5493-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 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
BOOK REVIEW
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
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