This British import offers an eclectic approach to biblical stories and history with panoramic, detailed illustrations, colorful maps and sidebars with “travel tips” geared to travelers of the time period. The organizational strategy consists of 20 journeys stretching from the time of creation as portrayed in the Bible to the era of the early Christians. Key characters are introduced in terms of their journeys to new lands or their returns to homelands. Each spread includes some text, spot illustrations and a larger illustration filled with people of the era, including details of their work, homes and clothing. Helpful labels and explanatory sentences are worked into the text, giving the reader lots to look at on every spread. The maps are a useful feature, often showing the same area on multiple pages, but with different names as the occupying groups changed. Most of the key characters, main stories and major locations described in the Bible are presented, giving a fairly comprehensive introduction to a complex subject. There are no correlations to relevant Bible verses, and although there is an index, it references journey numbers rather than page numbers with no indication of this, rendering it frustrating, baffling and useless for people unable to intuit this distinction. Though the pages seem crowded at first glance, a considerable amount of information is packed into a short volume, and the explanations of complicated history will be useful to adults teaching Bible history and interesting to young readers. (Picture book/religion. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7459-6088-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Lion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s plenty of wisdom here for older children and adults of many faiths.
Landmann illustrates the decalogue of Angelo Roncalli, probably best known as Pope John XXIII and now St. John—a simple set of 10 precepts to live by.
Each day, he would be polite, he would not criticize, he would spend 10 minutes in silence listening to God. “Just for today, I will make a plan: perhaps I will not follow it perfectly, but still I will make it. And I will guard against two evils: haste and indecision.” He concludes knowing that it is hard to think of doing those things for a lifetime, but for 12 hours? Surely one can do that. The original Italian is not quite so stiff, although it is as formal; the advice in any language is strong but gentle, as the man himself was. Landmann has made a near-magical series of images illustrating this prayer: of a boy, of a city of turrets and domes, of a classroom in which each child has an animal companion like a guardian angel (or one of Philip Pullman’s daemons), of rooftops and forest and ocean. Her surreal approach is ideal for the ethereal subject. The palette is blue and gold, and the line is delicate. The credo is a bit too wordy for very young children, but they might be taken by the images, and the repetition of “just for today” has a comforting, rhythmic weight.
There’s plenty of wisdom here for older children and adults of many faiths. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5461-2
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
While those who attend Jewish services will likely find this the most attention-grabbing, this is still pertinent to readers...
Learn the many specific steps necessary to create a Torah.
The Torah is “the holiest text of the Jewish people.” The words written on the Torah scroll are commandments for living and stories of creation. They have been preserved and revered for countless generations. In this copiously illustrated book, the author and photographer provide step-by-step directions for making a Torah scroll, from preparing the parchment and ink to writing the words and decorating covers. Ofanansky frequently engages readers in the process by asking questions such as “What tradition do YOU like to keep” and also includes interactive features, such as matching the correct answers in columns. There are many factoids, as in “304,805 / The number of letters in a Torah scroll,” as well as quotations from those engaged in the process. Readers can also learn how to make a yad, or pointer, used when reading from the text. There is a strong sense of community and modernity as men and women and girls and boys all work together for this very special creation.
While those who attend Jewish services will likely find this the most attention-grabbing, this is still pertinent to readers interested in religious studies. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68115-516-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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