A visually pleasing collection with appeal for those families who wish to introduce a universal approach to religious...
This collection of short prayers from different religions around the world is presented with intricate illustrations showing related settings and people.
Over her extensive career, author/illustrator Demi has profiled many individual religious leaders in well-received biographies for children. With this collection, she introduces groups of short, often well-known prayers representative of many of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Single prayers are included from Taoism, Shintoism, the Lakota people, and the Luba people of central Africa. The illustration for each prayer includes a group of representative humans, such as Buddhist monks and children praying at a Buddhist temple or a group of Jews praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Demi’s highly detailed illustrations with signature touches of gold are intriguing and well-researched, including people of many ethnicities and ages. An introduction from the author details her inclusive view of the common threads that underlie all these different religious traditions as well as her goal of fostering “tolerance and respect” through the combination of her choice of prayers and visual interpretations. Two concluding pages give specific notes on the prayers and on related illustrations.
A visually pleasing collection with appeal for those families who wish to introduce a universal approach to religious education, suitable for the religion section in larger libraries. (Picture book/religion. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-937786-69-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Wisdom Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here.
Kids teach a valuable lesson about community spirit.
A city block is ablaze with red and green lights for Christmas; one house glows blue and white for Hanukkah. This is where Isaac, a Jewish boy, lives, across the street from best friend Teresa, excitedly preparing for Christmas. They love lighting up their homes in holiday colors. After an antisemitic bigot smashes a window in Isaac’s house, Isaac relights the menorah the next night, knowing if his family doesn’t, it means hiding their Jewishness, which doesn’t “feel right.” Artistic Teresa supports Isaac by drawing a menorah, inscribed to her friend, and placing the picture in her window. What occurs subsequently is a remarkable demonstration of community solidarity for Isaac and his family from everyone, including the media. Galvanized into defiant action against hate, thousands of townspeople display menorahs in windows in residences and public buildings. This quiet, uplifting tale is inspired by an incident that occurred in Billings, Montana, in 1993. Readers will feel heartened at children’s power to influence others to stand up for justice and defeat vile prejudice. The colorful illustrations, rendered digitally with brushes of the artist’s devising, resemble scratch art. Isaac and Teresa are White, and there is some racial diversity among the townspeople; one child is depicted in a wheelchair. An author’s note provides information about the actual event.
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64614-087-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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PERSPECTIVES
A superior alternative to Goosebumps for elementary-age chill-seekers.
A monster allergy may ruin Alex’s visit to his grandparents’.
Alex and his cousin Sarah are spending a week visiting their grandparents in their grandparents’ new house…except the house is very old. It is likely haunted, and that was actually a selling point for Alex’s writer grandmother and artist grandfather, who together write the twisted and scary comic book Little Grendella. The whole family appears to be white. When he enters his room, Alex has an immediate allergic reaction…but when he tries to duplicate the reaction in front of Sarah and his grandparents, nothing happens. The strange rash on his arms reappears later, and it becomes obvious he is allergic to a ghost that’s haunting the house. Only Sarah and Alex can see the strange phantom, and it can write in the rash on Alex’s arm (unsurprisingly, this does not feel good). The duo decides to clear up the business that is keeping the ghost on Earth. Can they do it alone? This ghost story kicks off Lubar’s new series of light spooky tales à la his Monsterrific Tales, though for a younger audience. Customarily excellent writing at the sentence level unspools an undemanding adventure carefully pitched to his audience. What’s light, foolish, and transparent to adults will be enjoyable to youngsters seeking slight chills with a smile or two along the way.
A superior alternative to Goosebumps for elementary-age chill-seekers. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-87348-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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