A colorful and diverse exploration of God’s character, with an emphasis on love.
Popular progressive Christian memoirist Evans’ posthumously published children’s picture book encourages children and families to explore the attributes of God.
It’s a big question to ask. What is God like? Many people have asked across time and around the globe, and there have been many answers, too. Here, a Black brother and sister and their diverse group of playmates explore both what God is like and how we can know. From God’s revelation in nature to the stars in the sky, and above all through love, God is depicted as an omnipresent yet benevolent mystery. Throughout the text God is given male, female, and nonbinary pronouns and attributes. While many of the characteristics described come from Scripture, especially Psalms, belief in the Bible as Scripture is not a requirement to enjoy this book. Indeed, though the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is very lightly alluded to and the author self-identified as Christian, this is not an explicitly Christian text. It is well suited for diverse theistic audiences with varied beliefs about the creator, their nature, and identity. Tan’s bright illustrations employ soft, rounded shapes and swirling compositions to emphasize the comforting and all-encompassing nature of God’s presence. Notably, when the text compares God to three dancers, their grace and precision are interpreted by figures who are not stereotypically skinny and do not hew to conventional U.S. standards of beauty. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A colorful and diverse exploration of God’s character, with an emphasis on love. (Picture book/religion. 4-7)Pub Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-19331-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Convergent
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
An upbeat holiday tale marred by spotty logic.
An unusual Hanukkah miracle.
On the first night of Hanukkah, Ruthie’s parents give her a pair of holiday-themed “pajamakkahs.” Dad says that she can wear them to the family’s “Hanukkah Pajamakkah Party” on the eighth night. Ruthie wants to wear them “all eight nights.” Mom agrees but tells her to keep them “spotless.” Despite Ruthie’s precautions, she accrues myriad stains as she helps cook latkes, lights the menorah, does arts and crafts, and crashes into a pile of jelly doughnuts. But there are no spots here, says Ruthie—just “streaks,” “splotches,” “sparkles,” and “squishes.” On the final night of Hanukkah, the whole family and even the dog sport pajamakkahs of their own. Mom’s aghast at Ruthie’s pj’s. Dad says it’s a miracle they lasted eight nights, but he sees spots. “Dotted, not spotted,” Ruthie counters. Other, racially diverse, pajama-clad family members arrive. Ruthie twirls the dreidel and, inexplicably, causes a whirlwind, upending latkes, art supplies, and more. Are those spots on Ruthie’s pajamakkahs at last? Finally, Ruthie says, “a Hanukkah miracle!” This thinly plotted, only mildly amusing story is rife with logical holes. Even the youngest readers won’t believe Ruthie’s parents didn’t insist the badly soiled pj’s should get tossed in the washer sooner. It isn’t clear what’s so miraculous about Ruthie’s dirty jammies, and the child’s literalness wears thin. The cheerful, digitally created illustrations feature familiar Hanukkah symbols but are otherwise undistinguished. Ruthie and her immediate family are pale-skinned.
An upbeat holiday tale marred by spotty logic. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781728284576
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for.
Spinelli lists many things for which people are thankful.
The pictures tell a pleasing counterpoint to this deceptively simple rhyme. It begins “The waitress is thankful for comfortable shoes. / The local reporter, for interesting news.” The pictures show a little girl playing waitress to her brother, who playacts the reporter. The news gets interesting when the girl trips over the (omnipresent) cat. As the poem continues, the Caucasian children and their parents embody all the different roles and occupations it mentions. The poet is thankful for rhyme and the artist, for light and color, although the girl dancer is not particularly pleased with her brother’s painterly rendition of her visual art. The cozy hotel for the traveler is a tent for the siblings in the backyard, and the grateful chef is their father in the kitchen. Even the pastor (the only character mentioned who is not a family member) is grateful, as he is presented with a posy from the girl, for “God’s loving word.” The line is squiggly and energetic, with pastel color and figures that float over white space or have whole rooms or gardens to roam in. Both children, grateful for morning stories, appear in a double-page spread surrounded by books and stuffed toys as their mother reads to them—an image that begs to be a poster.
Low-key and gentle; a book to be thankful for. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-310-00088-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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