Love One Another: The Last Days Of Jesus [Hardcover]

Lauren Thompson (Author), Elizabeth Uyehara (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up

With simple, evocative language and boldly envisioned illustrations, this deeply felt retelling of the Easter story will inspire families of many backgrounds to celebrate the joys of love, forgiveness, and hope all year round.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lauren Thompson retells the story of Jesus' last days on earth by focusing on lessons that are filled with forgiveness and love in Love One Another: The Last Days of Jesus. This universal message is embodied in Jesus' interaction with the downtrodden, the outcasts, and his closest friends--the disciples--reminding young readers that we are to love both our enemies and our friends. The disciples' denial of Jesus shows us that everyone makes mistakes, which serves as the premier example of the joy and peace that forgiving others and being forgiven can bring. These basic, fundamental lessons of life are made particularly straightforward and memorable by Thompson's simple language and the stirring, colorful illustrations by Elizabeth Uyehara that complement it. Young minds will not only be led through the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, but more importantly, they will learn that "no sorrow is so great that love cannot heal it." --Jill Heatherly

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-Although the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus are among the most difficult events of Christianity to interpret to children, the author deals with this portion of his life in an effective, simple, straightforward way. Thompson emphasizes Jesus's radical teaching about God and love and the offense taken by the temple priests over his assumption of this authority. The details of Holy Week are briefly described. The positive ending, as the tomb is emptied and Jesus appears to his despondent disciples, stresses his universal message of peace, love, and forgiveness. The book is appropriate for non-Christian readers, as no mention is made of Jesus's divinity or the exclusivity of Christianity. Yet, the uniqueness of his extraordinary charisma and inclusive love for others is recognized. The text has a fine read-aloud rhythm, while the sentences are short enough and the vocabulary familiar enough for early readers as well. The oil-on-canvas illustrations, with a sweep and agitation reminiscent of van Gogh, are almost overpowering with their bold lines, gleaming stained-glass colors, and dramatic movement across the double-page spreads. The flat, foreshortened, distorted figures with their large, almond-shaped eyes and expressive faces are exciting and moving. Blood, pain, and sorrow are all depicted vividly, but they are part of Jesus's story, with all its horror and hope.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590318306
• ISBN-13: 978-0590318303
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi! I'm Lauren Thompson, children's book author. Please visit my website to find out about all my books: www.LaurenThompson.net

Happy reading!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, March 28, 2007

By 

Suzanne Van Hecke (Andover, MN, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love One Another: The Last Days Of Jesus (Hardcover)

I see lots of children's stories from our church library, Sunday school, from the Christian bookstores etc. I found this book of all places at the public library. I find it refreshing because its artwork is not the typical cartoony style I usually see. The crucifixion is a serious subject and the artwork reflects that. My 6-yr-old son is a visual learner, and he's attracted to comic books, the art you see in Yu-gi-OH cards, Avitar etc so he's bored with alot of the mild-looking cartoony material he sees in Sunday school, etc. This was different.

Contrary to a prior review, the "off-camera" resurrection was quite effective with my son. I read it to him, and we imagined what Jesus looked like. We added sound effects. In fact, it struck up a 30 minute conversation on Jesus, heaven, the angels, the resurrection etc. I'm buying a copy and adding it to our library!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Positive and Rare, May 2, 2006

By 

capriolus (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love One Another: The Last Days Of Jesus (Hardcover)

A wonderful, accessible retelling of the story of Holy Week for elementary-aged children. It is especially rare and special in that it is not based on the doctrine of substitutionary atonement ("Jesus died for our sins"), which is not synonymous with Christianity. It doesn't explicitly deny that belief, but places its emphasis on Jesus's charge to his followers to find redemption through love and forgiveness, no matter how difficult that may be.
For those who want their children to have an understanding of the Crucifixion in the context of Jesus's life and teaching, and who want the lesson that they take away from the story to be positive and constructive, this is a great find.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the story of the Messiah, March 25, 2008

By 

Leanne D. Rickard "Leanne" (Saskatchewan, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love One Another: The Last Days Of Jesus (Hardcover)

This is a book that tells the story of Jesus as though he were just a very good man. While inspiring and feel good human stories are valuble in their own right, I think it is misleading to to advertise this as a retelling of the story of Jesus. The core of Jesus' teaching is that He was the Son of God, and any story that does not acknowlege this is not an accurate retelling of the message. I think that my biggest complaint is that this book is advertised as a "retelling drawn from the Gospels" and therefore raises the expectation that it will be faithfull to the Messianic message. However, it's downplaying of Christ's divinity becomes obvious only as you read it, and frankly, I was offended by the dishonesty.

Whether or not it was intended as such, this book is a subtle attack on the fundamental teachings of Christianity. While there was obviously a sincere effort to focus on what Jesus taught about love, the ommissions rendered the story incomplete and the message about love distorted. An example is at the passover supper where, in the Gospels, Jesus prophesies Judas' betrayal. In this story, Jesus says "For soon, I fear, one of you will betray me," and no mention is made of Jesus' statements directly to Judas. The effect is to suggest that Jesus just made a very good guess, not to mention the implicit contradiction with His teaching that we are to fear nothing but God.

I am sorry to be so critical, but this book has very subtle theological distortions and should not be read to Christian children.