Not the best introduction to either Merton or the monastic life.
Readers are given a cursory look at an important Roman Catholic priest, monk, and writer whose life was governed by prayer, a love of nature, and strong beliefs in peace and nonviolence.
The abecedary format is a weakness. While it presents such words as “cowl,” “hermitage,” “monastery,” “Trappist,” and “vespers,” all important to understanding Merton’s life, other word choices seem arbitrary, some letters have multiple words, and a few are not illustrated at all (N, O, and P have six words among them but not one picture). C is for both “cowl” and “community,” one emphasizing solitude, the other togetherness. The book also suffers from the absence of a timeline. An authors’ note states this is not a biography, but the details that are presented will confuse: E is for England, where Merton moved from France when he was 13. But F is for France, where Merton was born; he moved to the United States with his family before he was 2. Similarly, the entry for “hermitage” states that Merton was a hermit in his last three years of life. But Merton visited the Dalai Lama (D) shortly before Merton died in Thailand. The illustrations are enclosed in stained glass–like frames, each letter in a corner, and the backgrounds are segmented as if they were sections of windows. The palette is rather muted.
Not the best introduction to either Merton or the monastic life. (biographical note, note to parents and teachers, resources) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61261-847-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paraclete Press
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2017
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here.
Kids teach a valuable lesson about community spirit.
A city block is ablaze with red and green lights for Christmas; one house glows blue and white for Hanukkah. This is where Isaac, a Jewish boy, lives, across the street from best friend Teresa, excitedly preparing for Christmas. They love lighting up their homes in holiday colors. After an antisemitic bigot smashes a window in Isaac’s house, Isaac relights the menorah the next night, knowing if his family doesn’t, it means hiding their Jewishness, which doesn’t “feel right.” Artistic Teresa supports Isaac by drawing a menorah, inscribed to her friend, and placing the picture in her window. What occurs subsequently is a remarkable demonstration of community solidarity for Isaac and his family from everyone, including the media. Galvanized into defiant action against hate, thousands of townspeople display menorahs in windows in residences and public buildings. This quiet, uplifting tale is inspired by an incident that occurred in Billings, Montana, in 1993. Readers will feel heartened at children’s power to influence others to stand up for justice and defeat vile prejudice. The colorful illustrations, rendered digitally with brushes of the artist’s devising, resemble scratch art. Isaac and Teresa are White, and there is some racial diversity among the townspeople; one child is depicted in a wheelchair. An author’s note provides information about the actual event.
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64614-087-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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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