Spirin continues his series of illustrated Bible stories with this individualistic and somewhat mysterious interpretation of the beloved Twenty-Third Psalm. The familiar words of the psalm are artfully set on parchment scrolls stretched across the bottom of the pages in an elegant design. Spirin’s intricately detailed oil paintings use scenes and images from the life of King David, thought to be the author of many of the Psalms. The cover and the first spread show an image of the young David as a shepherd boy, tending lambs playing peaceably next to a regal lion, while the title page and a later spread show a mature King David seated on his throne with his harp, surrounded by angels. The richly colored oil paintings are infused with Spirin’s signature golden light, complemented by the volume’s gold endpapers and the title’s gold lettering. The final page is a fold-out poster revealing a large painting; all the illustrations in the volume are smaller images from this larger work. Though the religious symbolism in the illustrations will be familiar to many, other symbols and images are less certain, and an illustrator’s note of explanation would have made the volume more accessible to those less familiar with biblical history. (Nonfiction. 5-adult)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24527-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A celebration of progressive Judaism and an inclusive primer on Jews making a difference in the world.
This wide-ranging collection of short biographies highlights 36 Jewish figures from around the globe and across centuries.
Explicitly pushing back against homogenous depictions of Jewish people, the authors demonstrate the ethnic, racial, and gender diversity of Jews. Each spread includes a brief biography paired with a stylized portrait reminiscent of those in Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo’s Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls (2016). A pull quote or sidebar accompanies each subject; sidebars include “Highlighting Jewish Paralympic Athletes,” “Jewish Stringed Music,” and “Ethiopian Jews in Israel.” Kleinrock and Pritchard’s roster of subjects makes a compelling case for the vastness and variety of Jewish experience—from a contemporary Ethiopian American teen to a 16th-century Portuguese philanthropist—while still allowing them to acknowledge better-known figures. The entry on Raquel Montoya-Lewis, an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court and an enrolled member of the Pueblo Isleta Indian tribe, discusses her mission to reimagine criminal justice for Indigenous people; the sidebar name-checks Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. The bios are organized around themes of Jewish principles such as Pikuach Nefesh (translated from the Hebrew as “to save a life”) and Adam Yachid (translated as the “unique value of every person”); each section includes an introduction to an organization that centers diverse Jewish experiences.
A celebration of progressive Judaism and an inclusive primer on Jews making a difference in the world. (resources) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780063285712
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The words to this traditional children’s hymn serve as the text for a pleasant interpretation focusing on a family of three bears: a father, mother and child. The storyline begins with the father bear reading a children’s Bible with the little bear and continues throughout the family’s day as they garden, fish, bake and decorate Easter eggs. On several spreads the bears are shown hiking and singing the words of the song together, indicated by speech balloons. The general theme of love and caring for others is always apparent even on those pages where the words of the song aren’t directly related to the bears’ activities. Warnes provides engaging illustrations of the smiling bear family, with expressive faces and charming details such as a fiddle and a fishing hat for the father and a stuffed bunny for the child instead of a teddy bear. This reassuring version of a beloved Sunday-School standard provides an introductory context to the song for very young children, who will enjoy the cozy world of this anthropomorphic bear family. Music and guitar chords are included. (Picture book. 1-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-4169-0065-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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