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IN THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS

Name: IN THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS
Author: Neil Philip
ISBN: 0-618-23481-0

A BOOK OF PRAYERS AND PRAISE

edited by Neil Philip & illustrated by Isabelle Brent ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2003

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Philip and Brent (Noah and the Devil, 2001, etc.) collaborate again to offer a lovely collection of prayers. Brent’s exquisite hand illustrates this beautiful, small volume in the manner of medieval manuscripts. Finding its audience might be problematic, however. Philip, an indefatigable editor of anthologies for young people, has gathered selections from many religions and cultures, and divided them loosely into seven sections, each with its own border design. On facing pages, for example, are prayers from the Talmud, English and Breton traditions, and 19th-century Irish. They are all very short, and sometimes abbreviated, as in the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, where only the first half appears. Some, for English speakers, are deeply familiar: “Thank you for the world so sweet, / Thank you for the food we eat”; or Dickens’s “God bless us every one!” Others seem scarcely to be prayers, like “Star light, star bright . . . I wish I may, I wish I might, / Have the wish I wish tonight.” Still others, not so well-known, come from Hindu and Muslim traditions, from Africa, from Hawaii, from various Native American peoples. Gorgeous illuminations border each page with tendrils of flora, birds, fruit, flowers, and lavish use of gold. A lovely gift (Nonfiction. 7-11)

Pub Date: March 24, 2003

ISBN: 0-618-23481-0

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGION

- BOOK REVIEW
HOT POTATO
edited by Neil Philip & illustrated by Claire Henley

- BOOK REVIEW
HORSE HOOVES AND CHICKEN FEET
adapted by Neil Philip & illustrated by Jacqueline Mair

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FISH IS ME
edited by Neil Philip & illustrated by Claire Henley

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BE BLEST

A CELEBRATION OF SEASONS

by Mary Beth Owens ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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This book of seasonal prayers, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of Brother Sun,” and also indebted to Gaelic scholar Alexander Carmichel’s work, can be summed up by a portion of the prayer for November: “Contained in every/season’s end:/the blessing to begin again.” Springtime’s “Sing praise” gives way to summer’s “Rejoice!” and then to harvest time’s “Give Thanks” before winter’s “Be Blest” appears in the encircled prayer that faces each month’s watercolor illustration. The realistic paintings reflect the annual cycle, becoming almost iconographic in the evidence in each of the gifts of the season. These are “God’s good gifts” that in January, for example, are the seeds shaken from dead plants and weeds and the leaf buds on barren branches. The puzzle of the cycle of life springing from death moves on many levels; also appearing in January are predator (fox) and prey (deer). The simple yet sturdy spirituality informing this book will assure its place in both individual and institutional collections that have room for religious titles. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-689-80546-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S RELIGION

- BOOK REVIEW
REMEMBER ME
by Donald Soctomah & Jean Flahive & illustrated by Mary Beth Owens

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DUMP MAN’S TREASURES
by Lynn Plourde & illustrated by Mary Beth Owens

- BOOK REVIEW
PANDA WHISPERS
by Mary Beth Owens & illustrated by Mary Beth Owens

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JOAN OF ARC

THE LILY MAID

by Margaret Hodges ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 1999

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While Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett’s Joan of Arc (1998) focused on Joan as a saint, this spirited but reverent telling emphasizes Joan as a hero. In the little village of DomrÇmy, Joan did not learn to read or write, but she listened to stories of the saints’ great deeds, worked with her parents, and aided the sick. When St. Michael the Archangel first appeared to her in a great light, she was 13; he told her she would save France, and the people supported her, outfitting her with horse and armor, and a white banner with the golden lilies that symbolized the French king. All the highlights of Joan’s story are elegantly recounted here: her recognition of the king hidden in the crowd, her victory at OrlÇans, Charles’s coronation, her capture, abandonment, trial, and death by burning at the stake. Rayevsky’s drypoint and etching illustrations use the muted colors and sepia backgrounds of old prints; the simple, sinuous line and stylized faces are particularly evocative. His visual trope of a flowerlike flame in the fireplace of Joan’s home is startlingly recreated in the final image of Joan at the stake. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)