This British import provides an accessible introduction to the Christian Bible, summarizing an amazing amount of material in a succinct and interesting manner. Each spread is a separate, short chapter, focusing on an important Bible story or aspect of history. Spot illustrations with captions extend the information from the text, and sidebars offer additional, related explanations about how and when the books of the Bible were written. Goodings clearly explains how the Bible came to be written and in which languages, with thoughtful definitions and time-frame references included in the sidebars. The chapters on the Gospels provide simple comparisons among the versions while also conveying the major events in the life of Jesus. The final chapters discuss the early Christians and translations of Bible texts from the original languages. The different modern translations of the Bible in English are not mentioned. Only a few very brief quotes from the actual Bible are included; these are from the Good News Bible version. Parents and church-school teachers will find this a useful introduction to a complex subject for school-age children. (Religion. 7-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6056-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperBlessings/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this retelling of a medieval French tale, a starving young acrobat, PÇquelÇ, is allowed to join a Franciscan community only if he promises to give up performing. When he breaks his promise, in order to comfort a plague-stricken infant, a sculpted angel comes to life and bears him away. Although the illustrator frames most of his darkly elaborate illustrations within stone archways decorated with floral designs or grotesques, PÇquelÇ often flies beyond the visual borders, flinging out arms and legs in abandon. His joy is contagious; readers moved by the story’s Italian cousin, retold in Tomie dePaola’s Clown of God (1978), will also respond to this more formal, polished rendition. (Picture book/folklore. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-22918-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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
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