This appealing interpretation will be useful in Protestant families and church settings as well as in larger library...
First published in Germany, this interpretation of the Protestant Lord’s Prayer offers line-by-line commentary on the prayer Jesus taught his followers.
The introduction poses some existential questions about the meaning of life and understanding the concepts of God, Jesus, and prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is introduced in its entirety, and then each phrase is explained in a page of text set in large type with an accompanying full-page illustration. The analysis is poetically phrased in a calm, even soothing tone, using both metaphorical phrases and concrete images to expand and illuminate the phrasing of the classic prayer. The concluding spread offers an alternative version of the prayer in simpler, more contemporary language. Mixed-media illustrations in acrylics and paper collage add another layer of interpretation, showing contemporary children and adults of many ethnic groups. The surrealistic illustrations, reminiscent of the work of Marc Chagall, are filled with dreamlike imagery that relates to the explanatory text, sometimes directly and sometimes in ways that are open to interpretation. In imaginative creations filled with motion, pages float out of a Bible, a girl flies into the sky on horseback, and a boy clings to his own planet surrounded by soaring birds and an ocean of sea creatures. Other illustrations are more realistic, yet there is always an element suggesting the unreal, such as the fish swimming across a grassy hill in the cover illustration.
This appealing interpretation will be useful in Protestant families and church settings as well as in larger library collections. (Religion/picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: April 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5468-1
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
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
Grace and joy for all ages and almost any faith.
A gorgeous visual paean to the natural world that reflects and echoes the prayer it accompanies.
Beloved author Paterson “reimagines” Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures” in crystalline language. “For this life and the life to come, we sing our praise to you, / O Lord, the Father and Mother of all creation.” The song starts with Brother Sun and Sister Moon, Brother Air and Sister Water, and leads on to thanksgiving for Sister Earth and Brother Fire, through praise for those who can forgive, comfort for those who suffer, courage for those who make peace. There is praise for Sister Death, acknowledging fear but recognizing her as part of love “for this life and the life to come.” Dalton’s extraordinary images, made with papercuts and watercolor lain on a black background, have the same stately rhythm, repetition and beauty as the text. Borders of fruit branches, flowers and leaves set off the text and the center frame, which is in two or three lines of images like a medieval panel painting or a contemporary sequential tale. A farmer plows and reaps, children play and work. Exquisitely rendered butterflies and oxen, sunflowers and apples, wheat and bread make the world vivid, present and lovely.
Grace and joy for all ages and almost any faith. (author’s, editor’s and illustrator’s notes, “Canticle” translated by Bill Barrett) (Picture book/religion. 5-10)Pub Date: May 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8118-7734-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Handprint/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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