The Angel and Other Stories [Hardcover]

Sue Stauffacher (Author, Narrator), Leonid Gore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Retellings of folktales which reflect Christian oral traditions from fifteenth and sixteenth century Europe,

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Illustrated with Gore's (Behold the Trees; Who Was Born This Special Day?) distinctive, ethereal mixed-media art and containing 10 stories adapted from Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde and different folktale traditions, this volume puts a sophisticated veneer on its central teachings about faith and grace. Scholars learn that true wisdom can come from the mouths of babes; angels discover the limitations of the human world and the boundlessness of God's. The title entry retells Hans Christian Andersen's famous tale about an angel who, while carrying a dead child to heaven, stops to gather the flower he himself had tended while a crippled boy on earth. The volume is probably best enjoyed in pieces, lest the didactic element overpower the storytelling; Stauffacher's (S'gana, the Black Whale) adaptations do not always improve on existing translations. But Gore's art consistently rewards readers. Using acrylics and pastels, he achieves almost diaphanous effects, diffusing light to evoke the otherworldly realm inhabited by Stauffacher's divine beings. Gore's earthly characters look less heroic here than in previous works; they are humbler and drawn with some comic touches. The particularly graceful cover illustration, of a child tenderly embraced by an angel, should lure readers. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7-A collection of 10 tales from writers such as Henri Pourrat, Micha Joseph bin Gorion, and the Brothers Grimm. Stauffacher has edited and embellished as necessary, and the result is a readable, inviting collection. Each story, appealing across religious lines, speaks of the power of God's goodness and grace. Included are such favorites as Hans Christian Andersen's "The Angel," Leo Tolstoy's "Where Love Is, God Is Also," and Oscar Wilde's "The Star Child." Twenty full-color, full-page illustrations in rich blues, greens, and yellows complement the mood of the selections. The large format encourages group sharing. A fine choice for reading aloud or for quiet meditation.
Linda Beck, Indian Valley Public Library, Telford, PA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 75 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802852033
• ISBN-13: 978-0802852038
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,405,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Growing up is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much better to skip it and go from one childhood to another." So, I tried growing up and it didn't suit me as well as going from one childhood to another. Which is to say, that to write children's books is to stay in touch with childhood. Which is to say, it's not a bad thing to stay in touch with the child-like senses of wonder and delight.

So I think I will. My recently redone website will introduce young readers to my books and to my weblog about developing your own creative spirit and rekindling or nourishing your sense of wonder and delight.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touched by a Unique Book, November 6, 2002

By 

"basmith525" (Grand Rapids, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Angel and Other Stories (Hardcover)

While the author, Ms. Sue Stauffacher, and the illustrator, Leonid Gore, need no introduction to fans of children's literature, the book, "The Angel," does. This book needs an introduction because it defies the categories the general public often uses in approaching and blithely dismissing the importance of children's literature and the presence of a human religious impulse. To those in the secular press, the stories will be measured by references to God and the sacred. To those in the Christian press, the stories will be measured by the ability of the reviewer to twist them into doctrinal conformity. Neither will understand the genius of this book, which is evident when one engages the stories and the illustrations for what they are: a beautiful presentation of the holy in life and the capacity of children to open up that sacredness.

This is a book for parents to read with their children; especially if one has found organized religion to be largely too impersonal or not to possess a genuine wonder for existence. It is also a book for those who want to pass on to their children a depth of understanding and appreciation for the capacity of good narrative to lure a reader into becoming a walking companion with the characters of a story. Each story is a journey through the emotional landscape of human existence, and the destination of each story becomes the hope that is born through human thought and deed.

This is a religious book, although not by the standards of our time. To our time religion is believed in or rejected as a matter of doctrinal purity. It is understood too narrowly. Not so with these stories. Because of their origin as folk tales and through Ms. Stauffacher's sensitive retelling and Mr. Gore's mesmerizing illustrations, they are aimed at the deepest bonds of affection that exist between us: those bonds that enfold us with love. These stories are aimed deeper than religion or irreligion, belief or rejection of belief, for they are aimed at the soul, the human religious impulse. When I first read these stories I thought their aim placed them within the tradition of liberal religion. This tradition is best summed up in the words of 19th century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker (from whom Abraham Lincoln borrowed the phrase, "Of the people, by the people, and for the people," when in his Gettysburg Address Lincoln was seeking to evoke the human religious impulse that linked North and South, black and the white, and man and woman in a common destiny). Parker called upon something deeper than doctrine or belief, or the absence thereof; a mystic chord within human nature and existence that he called "pure Religion," "the divine life of the soul... The only creed it lays down is the great truth which springs up spontaneous in the holy heart -- there is a God. The only form it demands is a divine life; doing the best thing, in the best way, from the highest motives.... Its sanction is the voice of God in your heart; the perpetual presence [which] made us and the stars over our head... All this is very simple; a little child can understand it; very beautiful, the loftiest mind can find nothing so lovely... so well summed up in the command, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind -- thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'... not a system of doctrines, but rather a method of attaining oneness with God." (All quotations from "The Transient and Permanent in Christianity," Theodore Parker, 1842)

This will make an excellent holiday gift because it conveys, through story and picture what so many holiday classics convey: that life contains enough wonder and surprise to fall in love with!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gift for my niece, June 3, 2009

By 

Ann M. Rigby "book lover" (Paradise Valley, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Angel and Other Stories (Hardcover)

My 8-year old niece sent us a thank you note, saying she loved the angle (angel) book! It was the perfect gift for her First Communion, & hopefully kept her open to the spiritual world that children know & adults forget.

Thank you, Sue!