Waldman (Too Young For Yiddish, p. 106, etc) begins by asking why of all the ancient cultures and religions of the Mediterranean only the Jews have survived. His answer is that the promise of the land, Eretz Yisrael, which God made to Abraham, has sustained the Jewish people through Diaspora and the many calamities they have suffered. Retelling the story of the Covenant, the sojourn in Egypt, and the Exodus is central to Jewish observance. Waldman relates these stories and emphasizes their role in keeping the Jewish religion alive. While there are additional reasons for the long-term survival of the Jews, prohibitions against intermarriage, for example, this focuses on the role of place in Jewish belief. For the most part, it is a straightforward account that sticks to Biblical sources, except when the author allows himself artistic license for statements like “Moses smiled deeply” when he gazed for the first time across the Jordan valley to the Promised Land. Waldman employs his characteristically muted palette of browns and golds to depict the Israelites. Heavy on text and not likely to appeal to a younger crowd. (Picture book. 11+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-56397-332-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
In glossy textbook style, this latest entry in The Other Half of History series (Women of Ancient Greece, p. 1746, etc.) illuminates the days and lives of wealthy, middle-class, and poor women who lived thousands of years ago in Egypt. The large-scale format of the book allows elaborate full-color photographs to appear on every page, often accompanied by sidebars with brief quotations from ancient Egyptian writers. These provide the book’s main source of interest; Macdonald resorts to a textbook writing style, with deliberately short, declarative sentences that make the material sound more somber than it is. Nevertheless, this book provides a useful tracing of the role of women in history, and would be a good companion reference to Eloise Jarvis McGraw’s classic Mara, Daughter of the Nile (1953) or Sonia Levitin’s Escape from Egypt (1994). (maps, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-87226-567-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard for most US readers to imagine what it is like to grow up amid ongoing violence, but that is what Liam’s life has been in Belfast. However, this 11-year-old’s family life, school, and dreams will be known to children everywhere. After providing an overview of “the Troubles,” McMahon movingly describes the conditions of Liam’s existence: a Catholic, he has never known a Protestant—“peace walls” separate the Catholic and Protestant sections of Belfast. On his way to school, Liam passes buildings with large messages painted on them: “Brits Out,” or “No Surrender.” Family and school conversations often include passing references to a bomb going off. O’Connor’s full-color photographs show all the aspects of Liam’s life, including his training for a boxing match; the boy loses, but rather than believe that the judges ruled against him because of where he’s from, he quotes a rule he has learned—“We win, or we lose. Then we go on.” This book provides a realistic glimpse of a place where peace has taken a fragile hold, and offers a reminder that the dreams of children can flourish amid misery. (map) (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-68620-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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