Nikola-Lisa (Summer Sun Risin’, p. 575. etc.) recounts the Nativity story in a simple, repetitive text that can be sung to the tune of “This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes,” and the text actually works better if it’s sung rather than read. Each page has just four lines of text, with the final word on one page rhyming with the final word on the next. A few of these rhymes don’t scan well, especially in two verses ending with “where found they blessed He” and “they gave to him gladly.” The text blocks, printed in a typeface suggesting hand lettering, are set off from the full spreads with patterned borders that complement Weber’s (Harp O’ Gold, 2001, etc.) folk-art style paintings. Her appealing illustrations include a huge star over Bethlehem, happy angels, dancing donkeys, and singing shepherds, all in cheery colors that add to the joyful atmosphere of the Nativity scene. Parents could use this with toddlers to introduce the Christmas story, and Sunday school and parochial school teachers in the primary grades will find it a worthwhile addition to the seasonal bookshelf. (Picture book/nonfiction. 2-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1627-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An explicitly didactic introduction to major lessons in the Quran that some traditional Muslim families will welcome
In this introductory board book, Khan outlines lessons from the Quran in simple language for the very young.
The book begins with “The Qur’an tells us… / …in the beginning only Allah was,” followed by the creation of “the Heavens” and the Earth, and then the creatures that we see, such as animals and humans, and those we do not see, such as angels and “jinn.” The book describes the Quran as a book of instructions for life and goes on to explain some of those guidelines in broad strokes, such as being good to others and being thankful. The five pillars of Islam (worshiping only Allah, prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage) are presented as what “Allah wants us” to do. Getting married and having “happy families” and children are included in what “Allah wants us” to do, an inclusion that seems a bit out of place in a list of major themes from the Quran. The illustrations use a cheerful, pink- and yellow-based palette, sprinkling them with stars and butterflies, in a playful drawing style. The people display a range of skin tones, and one spread depicts a person who uses a wheelchair. While the language is fairly basic, some terms, such as “thankful” and “hajj,” will require explanation.
An explicitly didactic introduction to major lessons in the Quran that some traditional Muslim families will welcome . (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-86037-618-7
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Kube Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Younger audiences may be mostly interested in the bonking and stinky parts, but the rudiments are at least in place for...
Ten tales from the Old and New Testaments, with plot points and lessons hidden beneath large, shaped flaps.
Higgins depicts Jesus as a bit larger than those around him but otherwise draws him and the rest of the cast—including angels—with similar-looking round heads, wide-open eyes, slightly crooked beards (on the men), and dark brown or olive skin. Cycling arbitrarily among various tenses, the abbreviated, sanitized, and informally retold episodes begin in “a garden” with the tree, most of Adam and Eve, and the “tricky serpent” who “will trick them” initially hidden beneath die-cut flaps. Lifting the largest reveals the disobedient first couple sporting flashy animal-skin togs and text that promises that “God had a plan to save people from sin.” After Noah boards the “crowded, noisy, and stinky” ark, Moses leads the escape from plague-ridden Egypt (“Frogs and locusts! Yucky sores and flies!”), and “David bonks Goliath.” God’s promise eventually bears fruit with the birth and select miracles of Jesus. In the climactic scene, three distant crosses hide beneath a flap that depicts Jerusalem, while behind a tomb in the foreground an angel literally fizzes with fireworks. Beneath a bush readers see Mary (Magdalen) weeping until the risen Jesus (beneath another bush) gives her a hug: “Go tell the disciples that I am alive!”
Younger audiences may be mostly interested in the bonking and stinky parts, but the rudiments are at least in place for homiletic discussion. (Novelty/religion. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5064-4684-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Beaming Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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