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GOD'S GREATEST MIRACLE

A TALE OF TWO LITTLE ANGELS

A simple yet surprisingly nuanced spiritual adventure.

A debut book presents a Christian tale for children.

The Institute for the Creation of New Essence Personalities is a place where angels experiment. They create new angels utilizing revolutionary techniques. While refining the process, they discovered that making a boy angel and a girl angel at the same time was a smart strategy. One day, a magnificent boy and girl pair is created. It turns out that new angels must attend school before they can be sent to Earth to be born as humans. But angel school can be intense. The archangel Gabriel warns his students that “you will find it is difficult to get your human body and brain to do what God would like as their design is to obey physical demands.” He explains that human bodies are “necessary vehicles for angels to evolve in awareness.” Fast-forward and that boy and girl from the institute have become humans. The boy is born into royalty as a prince. The girl is the daughter of a wealthy merchant family. The two meet at a young age, but, tragically, the girl’s days on Earth are remarkably short. Nevertheless, part of her Essence is passed on to another girl. When the prince grows up, he must find the one who received this Essence and help change the world for the better. While Polyakov’s series opener is brief, it still manages to go in some unexpected directions. The angel children, along with readers, learn not just about Christian beliefs, but also a slice of comparative religion. The kids are taught about the Buddhist Yogacara school and the idea of enlightenment. And how many Christian stories for children actually mention Enoch? Once the action moves to Earth, things get a little dull. The angels-turned-humans wind up establishing something called “the Institute for Conscious Evolution and Human Development.” This institute may be a grand force for good but it is no more inviting than it sounds. Still, the odd origins of this tale, as explained in the epilogue, make this book even more unusual than readers may have imagined at the get-go.

A simple yet surprisingly nuanced spiritual adventure.

Pub Date: March 26, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-228-85689-4

Page Count: 98

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Review Posted Online: June 20, 2022

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MOMMY'S KHIMAR

With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked...

From a debut author-and-illustrator team comes a glimpse into a young American Muslim girl’s family and community as she walks around in “Mommy’s khimar,” or headscarf.

The star of this sunny picture book is a young girl who finds joy in wearing her mother’s khimar, imagining it transforms her into a queen, a star, a mama bird, a superhero. At the core of the story is the love between the girl and her mother. The family appears to be African-American, with brown skin and textured hair. The girl’s braids and twists “form a bumpy crown” under the khimar, which smells of coconut oil and cocoa butter. Adults in her life delight in her appearance in the bright yellow khimar, including her Arabic teacher at the mosque, who calls it a “hijab,” and her grandmother, who visits after Sunday service and calls out “Sweet Jesus!” as she scoops her granddaughter into her arms. Her grandmother is, apparently, a Christian, but “We are a family and we love each other just the same.” The illustrations feature soft pastel colors with dynamic lines and gently patterned backgrounds that complement the story’s joyful tone. The words are often lyrical, and the story artfully includes many cultural details that will delight readers who share the cheerful protagonist’s culture and enlighten readers who don’t.

With a universal message of love and community, this book offers a beautiful representation of a too-often-overlooked cultural group . (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5344-0059-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

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THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

From the Chronicles of Narnia series , Vol. 1

Although metaphysical rumblings may disturb adults, this wily symbolism-studded fantasy should appeal to children of an imaginative turn. While exploring an old English mansion, the four children—Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy—discover through passing into a wardrobe, the strange land of Narnia, where it is winter without ever becoming Christmas. The children soon are swept up in the terror of the rule of the White Witch, fighting with the other subjects—all animals—and the glorious Lion, Asian, who brings spring and hope with him. In spite of the White Witch's terrific enslavement of Edmund, her horrid power, which changes living things to stone, and the sacrificial death of Aslan, the forces of light win, the children are made kings and queens, and Asian returns to life. The plot thickens to a pretty heavy pudding at the end, but the prose is witty and the novel action is fast-moving. Not recommended for adults!

Pub Date: Nov. 6, 1950

ISBN: 978-0-06-171505-1

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: April 9, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1950

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