Love Is... [Hardcover]

King James Bible (Author), Wendy Anderson Halperin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001 | Age Level: 4 and up

What is Love?

For thousands of years, people the world over have answered this question by turning to Saint Paul the apostle and his words on love for the early followers of Christ. Now celebrated illustrator Wendy Anderson Halperin lends her own artistic vision to Paul's immortal words and reasserts his message -- that the love we express can best be seen in what we do and say -- for generations to come.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Subject of sonnets, songs, and soul searching, love is--and is not--many things. "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful. Love is not arrogant or rude." In her adaptation of I Corinthians 13, Wendy Anderson Halperin presents the elegantly simple definition of the word "love" the apostle Paul offered 2,000 years ago. She features one of Paul's definitions on each whimsically illustrated two-page spread. Pages are framed in an ornate yet homespun decorative pattern, and covered with divided boxes portraying the dearth of love's benefits on the left (sticking out your tongue, for example), and the bounty of love on the right (a fatherly kiss on the head). Halperin's detailed pencil and watercolor illustrations will provide something new to explore with every reading--dozens of picture stories-within-stories act as a starting point for discussion with children.

Halperin has illustrated many charming books for children, including Marsha Wilson Chall's Bonaparte and Sophie and Rose by Kathryn Lasky. (Ages 4 to 8, or a gift from adult to adult) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Adapting the apostle Paul's definitions of love in I Corinthians 13, Halperin (Hunting the White Cow) combines Paul's words with an intricate mosaic of watercolor-and-pencil vignettes to create a memorable, unusually thoughtful picture book. A simple line of text (e.g., "Love is... patient. Love is kind") runs across the bottom of each spread; above, Halperin's artwork appears in small, carefully arranged panels, akin to the pieces of a stained glass window. On each left-hand page, her panels depict people acting without love (ballplayers bicker; a pedestrian ignores a homeless man). The right-hand pages show the same people performing acts of kindness, touched by the joy love brings (a child stands at bat, a woman delivers meals-on-wheels). Other interpretations are more subtle. A panel on the spread illustrating "Love... does not insist on its own way" follows the metamorphosis of egg to caterpillar to butterfly; the spread for "Love... believes all things" is bordered by a row of crayons, pictures of seed packets, tools ranging from microscope to eggbeaters, and musical instruments. Some panels are reserved for continuing stories: as the pages progress, a house on the left becomes increasingly dilapidated, while on the right a sculptor transforms a block of marble into an enduring work of art (it's Michelangelo and his David). Those who pore over the pictures (and readers will want to) will find references to Aesop, Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs and more. With her thought-provoking, insightful visual examples, Halperin does an outstanding job of relating biblical text to contemporary, everyday life. All ages.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689829809
• ISBN-13: 978-0689829802
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, September 6, 2003

By 

Bookish Mom (seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Love Is... (Hardcover)

My two year old and I pour over this book every night noticing different things in the collage-like pages and having discussions about things like kindness and patience. It's a great springboard for introducing these ideas and inspiring to me to be more loving as I teach my daughter about love. I also appreciate that Halperin includes all kinds of people in her illustrations -- all different races, different cultures, people with disabilities, etc... Our life is a little richer thanks to this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, December 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Love Is... (Hardcover)

This is a lovely book with amazing depth. My three year old daughter finds something new in the illustrations on every reading, as do I. The book will grow with her as many of the illustrations make sense to a three year old in one way and an older child in another way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Inspirational, September 22, 2010

By 

Suzanne Sieker "TREC Inc." (Boise, ID USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Love Is . . . (Paperback)

This is a wonderfully creative book, which depicts "love" (and its opposite) in detailed illustrations. I have two copies of my own and have given away seven copies as gifts.