Customer Reviews

Illustrated Jewish Bible for Children

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you are Jewish, DO NOT buy this book! And even if you are a Christian, if you have any respect for Judaism, you should probably steer clear as well...

This book is designed to perpetuate the myth that the Torah and the other books of the Tanach (the Jewish bible) are an "Old" Testament, which has been supplanted by Jesus' teachings, contained in the "New" Testament.

I feel sorry for unsuspecting Jewish parents or grandparents who buy this book for their kids or grandkids only to discover that it presents Judaism only in relation to Christianity, not as a religion in itself. (for example, it discusses Abraham in terms of how long before Jesus he lived, and refers to the Tanach as "what Jesus would have read when he was a child."

Notice that the publisher has stuck a "rabbi's" name on the cover, while hiding the genuine author's name on the back cover... this is a conscious ploy to attract Jewish customers to what is basically a Christian book.

I have no fight to pick with Christianity, and if Christian parents want to teach their kids about their Jewish roots, this is probably a fine book for them to use. But because of its deceptive targeting at Jewish families, I strongly suggest that nobody -- Christian or Jew -- buy the book, as it would only encourage the publishers in their efforts to mislead.

(P.S. I tried to give this book 0 stars, but the form wouldn't let me)

This is a well done book but the title is misleading. Jewish parents will especially want to take care, as this book is really written for non-Jewish children to learn about the Jewish Bible. THe book references the Jewish Bible from a Christian point of view, and references historical characters as to their distance in time to Jesus. I wish they had been more explicit about this; in fact, by prominently featuring the name of a rabbi who wrote the FOreword on the book's cover, the publishers seem to be purposely misleading potential buyers as to the nature of the book

If you are looking for a children's Bible for a Jewish child, DO NOT buy this one. This book has been inaccurately titled. It should have been named "The Old Testament for Christian Children". A quick glance at the religious consultants listed is a pretty good warning that all is not as it seems. Only one of the names listed is identifiably Jewish, while two Reverends, a Father, and a Sister are obviously Christian. The remaining three consultants are not identified with titles (but one is named Mary...). The front cover only lists the author of the foreword (a Rabbi), and not the true author of the book, Selina Hastings.

Upon reading the "Introduction to the Bible", I was shocked to find such passages as "The Bible...is divided into two main parts, the Old Testament (or Hebrew Testament) and the New Testament." Further on, I read, "The 39 books of the Old Testament have guided the Jewish people throughout their history. These are the Scriptures which Jesus read." Every mention of Jewish tradition is followed by a reference to the Christian counterpart. Had this been presented as a book for Christians, or even a book of comparative religion, I could understand this. But it was not. When presented as a Jewish bible-with a foreword by a Rabbi-it should stick to Judaism as the focus, rather that referring to the Christian Bible at all. For their edification, I do not refer to the Jewish Bible as "The Old Testament"-it is THE Bible for me, period.

To the author's credit, this book is excellently illustrated, with a large amount of historical information. If anything, this, rather than the overly simplified Bible stories, is the main value of this book. Note-even the illustrations and stories are from a Christian perspective, such as the sidebar on circumcision (on a page labeled "Abraham's Two Sons"), which includes a painting of Jesus' circumcision.

I am a Jewish parent who is homeschooling my 6-year old son. I was (and still am) looking for something I can use for Bible studies and was given this book from a friend. This is a terrible book for someone looking to learn or teach about the Jewish religion. It is skewed from a Christian perspective. If you are looking for something which truly introduces or explains the Jewish religion, then AVIOD THIS BOOK.

Written from a christian perpective. Several references to Jesus, and the "Old testament" not only in the introduction - examples - the patriarchs live 1500 years before Jesus. There is a painting depicting Jesus being circumcised (as stated in the caption. Other inaccuracies such as the hebrew letters "yod, hei vav, hei" is usually written as "Yahweh" - um, only Jehovahs wittnesses people! One story suggests a sacrifice of a young woman which would never have been permitted. (Judges 11) Torah commentary teaches she lived in seculsion (the sacrafice being she never married or had children)
I gave this 2 stars because most of the book is OK, but Jewish parents should be aware of these flaws. Would be an OK choice for a Christian child, though the take on Judges 11 is disturbing.

I should have examined this book more closely before I bought it. I didn't realize that it wasn't truly a Jewish Bible. I would not have bought it. When I read it to my kids, I edit out the parts I do not endorse. Eventually I will probably give it away and get my kids a real Jewish book. A pity, because it has nice little stories in it. DK was very deceptive when marketing this book.

I read the others Readers' Reviews, and was also taken aback by the stated Christian perspective in a book supposedly geared towards Jewish families. I had a chance to flip through this book, however, and while the Christian perspective is annoying (especially for someone trying to raise a Jewish child in a town where we are a minority), the illustrations, maps and charts somewhat redeem the few Christian references in the text. In typical DK fashion, this book's annotations provide an good overview of the Tanakh, and tell the stories in ways that are neither overly simplified nor overly florid, as found in many biblical texts written for young people. A parent could choose to point out to the child that we live in a world with many religions, and that there are other religions whose roots share a common history with ours. I do agreed, however, that it is unfortunate to find such references in a purportedly "Jewish" book.

For those who are looking for children's bible stories a little more grounded in the Judaic perspective, I recommend the Sheryl Prenzlau _The Jewish Children's Bible_ series, presented in five separate books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. Numbers & Deuteronomy), but which also include the related Midrashim, and a Hagagadah, and the books of Ester, Ruth, and Jonah. Another good introductory book would be _A Child's Garden of Torah_ by Alfred J. Kotlach, which my daughter enjoys reading. Unfortunately, none of these books provide the excellent maps and charts of the DK book, so flawed as it may be, I will probably end up buying this book.

I thought about buying this book for my daughter until I read the introduction. The introduction is definitely written from a Christian perspective, and I don't feel that it is appropriate for teaching a Jewish child about the Tanach. Obviously, Jews don't recognize the New Testament, but the introduction states that the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and New Testament. As another reviewer noted, such references to Christian beliefs would be proper for a book on comparative religion, but not in a book purporting to teach the Hebrew Bible to Jewish children. My advice to Jewish parents: look elsewhere.

The title is misleading. This is not a bible book for Jewish children. It is a book for use with children and retells and illustrates many Old Testament (the Jewish bible) stories. It includes some brief sentences, in the beginning, that distinguish the Old Testament from the New Testament. For a Jewish child, being raised in a Jewish home, I would look elsewhere. But for a child being raised in an interfaith home this book could be a very useful reference. It tells and illustrates Old Testament stories in a non-sectarian way, but could also be used to discuss Christianity when a child asks about the differences. In a Christian home the book presents a good children's reference to the old Testament stories, and a basis for discussion of where Christianity departs.

A number of the illustrations are reproductions of classic works of art, and some of them would not be the first, or even the last , choice in a Jewish home. There is a reproduction of a painting of the circumcision of the baby Jesus. Not clear why this actually needs to be illustrated at all, and certainly no Jewsih oriented reason to use Jesus as the example. But in an interfaith or Christian home it might be useful to point out that Jesus and his family were Jewish and followed Jewish teachings. There are some illustrations of heavenly figures, apparently with halos. Not a Jewish way of illustrating things, but probably one that would be overlooked by children.

This isn't a friendly, readable book. Most children would get bored by the text and by the way it is laid out, with words and illustrations jammed on a page. But as a reference to refer to when a question arises or a point needs to be made, the text and the illustrations could be very useful aids to a discussion.

Too bad, as other reviewers have pointed out, that it does say "there was day and night", rather than the way the bible actually says "there was night and there was day" since this is such a common question and such an obvious point. But that isn't a show-stopper.

I agree with the other reviews that DK Publishing does deception by putting the Rabbi's name of the cover. On their web page they even go as far as to say that the Rabbi is the author. For this reason, I would NEVER purchase any books by DK Publishing. This is a great book for a Cristian child, but do not buy for a Jewish child.