FAITH

This impeccably designed introduction to spiritual practices around the world provides a superb way to show children that there are many means of expressing religious faith. The authors concentrate on what people of disparate faiths have in common by focusing on the mutual “elements of faith” that most religions share, such as praying, reading holy books, participating in cleansing rituals, visiting holy places and helping others. The exceptionally thoughtful design uses just a few sentences of text set in large type against backgrounds of deep, saturated color. Each spread shows multiple photographs of children from many different cultures engaging in their own religious activities, with simple captions identifying the activity and the particular country and/or faith. Noteworthy care was taken in the choice of engaging, nonstereotypical and inclusive photographs, and the quality of the photography and reproduction is stellar. The concluding pages include an amplified text describing the elements of faith in more detail, a world map showing all the countries noted in the photo captions and a glossary of religious terms. This introduction to world religions deserves a wide audience. (Picture book/religion. 3-10)