The nature scenes and warm family interactions reinforce and make visible the message of God’s love.
Gentle rhyming verses introduce young children to the enormity and steadfastness of God’s love.
Every spread except the final one starts with the titular question. A rhyming ABA verse goes on to describe the vastness of God’s love: “More than every cloud above. / He watches and protects you / and keeps you in His love.” On this page, readers see an adult with their arm around a child as well as a parent-child cat duo curled up together in slumber and a cow watching out for its calf. Many pages echo the message in the illustrations like this. “If ever you feel small and scared, / He will hold you in His hand” shows a parent holding an infant as the family explores a tidal pool. God’s love is described as greater than all sorts of natural things, including grains of sand, raindrops, ocean waves, trees, and twinkling stars. The illustrations depict families that are diverse in gender, race, skin tone, age, ability, and number of members, and the nature scenes go through all four seasons as well as an entire day, from sunrise to nighttime. Wildlife is anthropomorphized to emphasize tender expressions and loving actions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The nature scenes and warm family interactions reinforce and make visible the message of God’s love. (Religious picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66430-015-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations.
Bergren and Bryant attempt to explain Easter to young children in a gentle, nonthreatening manner, with partial success.
When Little Cub questions her father about Easter, Papa Bear explains the religious significance of the holiday in various symbolic ways to his cub. He uses familiar things from their world, such as an egg and a fallen tree, to draw parallels with aspects of the Christian story. Papa Bear discusses his close relationships with Jesus and God, encouraging Little Cub to communicate with God on her own. The theme focuses on the renewal of life and the positive aspects of loving God and Jesus. Easter is presented as a celebration of eternal life, but the story skirts the issue of the crucifixion entirely. Some adults will find this an inadequate or even dishonest approach to the Easter story, but others will appreciate the calm and soothing text as a way to begin to understand a difficult subject. Bryant’s charming watercolor illustrations of the polar bear family, their cozy home and snowy forest scenes add to the overall mellow effect.
Fans of this popular series will find this a rewarding addition to family Easter celebrations. (Religion/picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-307-73072-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Better stories about Hanukkah abound.
A family of latkes prepares for Hanukkah.
The members of the Latke family are all potato pancakes, even their dog, Applesauce. As Hanukkah approaches, daughter Lucy greets readers while her parents fry jelly doughnuts, her older brother holes up in his room being a teenager, and Grandpa disrupts the holiday by offering up an alternate spelling: “CHHA-nukah!” Applesauce explains that both can be correct. The usual celebrations continue, with all participating except for the teenager. And then Grandpa commences to tell the story of the holiday with his own twist. It was not the Maccabees who fought for freedom, it was bees: “MEGA-BEES!” Applesauce tries to correct this version, but Grandpa continues. The enemy was not Antiochus: It was “ALIEN POTATOES FROM PLANET CHHHHH!” And while the Maccabees were low on oil, the Mega-Bees are low on honey. Also in this revised account is a giant dreidel that calls to mind the Trojan horse and from which the Mega-Bees emerge to “[mash] those tater tyrants into tatters.” Add the usual ingredients and you have, of course, “POTATO LATKES!” Silverberg’s narration brings to mind a Borscht Belt routine that may be appreciated by some adult readers but is just as likely to cause confusion among its audience. His digital illustrations depict latkes that resemble brown blobs and only add to the general muddlement.
Better stories about Hanukkah abound. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47912-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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