Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions (Shelley Rotner's Early Childhood Library) [Hardcover]

Shelley Rotner (Author), Sheila Kelly (Illustrator), Shelley Rotner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Shelley Rotner's Early Childhood Library

Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–Children and parents of different races and religions are shown practicing their faith and expressing their love for one another and for our beautiful earth. The importance of religious symbols, music, places of worship, holidays, and food shines through in the simple text and appealing color photographs. The message that is reinforced is that although all of the people pictured have different religions, they share fundamental values. Unfortunately, the individual images are identified only in a separate section at the back of the book; it is cumbersome to have to flip back and forth to find out which religions are discussed on each page. While the concept of explaining a bit about a variety of religions in one volume is a good one, the format limits this book's effectiveness and appeal.–Heather Ver Voort, Wilson Middle School, Natick, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. As a way of introducing children to the variety and continuity of the world's religions, Rotner provides clear, colorful photographs showing the religious practices of children and adults who are Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs. The opening pages show ethnically diverse groups of children going to school, playing together, and spending time with their parents. But the text notes that despite their similarities, families have different beliefs and worship God in different ways. A typical double-page spread introduces a single theme such as religious books, music, symbols, or prayer through six photographs and a line or two of simple text. Back matter includes information about specific photos, page by page, and a brief bibliography. A fine visual introduction to a basic American freedom, this book is a good starting place for conversations about different religions. It may be particularly valuable to children whose communities are not religiously diverse. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Millbrook Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761328734
• ISBN-13: 978-0761328735
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #553,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars probably better for 3-5 year olds, June 16, 2009

By 

K. Daugherty - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions (Shelley Rotner's Early Childhood Library) (Hardcover)

I bought this book because my almost-6-year-old has recently become very interested in Christianity. We do not practice any religion in our home but our children attend a Christian daycare. We want them to understand that there are many other ways of thinking besides Christianity. The book arrived yesterday and my child's opinion was something like "It has nice pictures but it doesn't tell much." She's right. Beautiful illustrations, but practically no content that will help her learn about the religions of the world. We'll keep looking...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, Simple Book about the World's Religions, March 12, 2007

By 

Ava Seave (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions (Shelley Rotner's Early Childhood Library) (Hardcover)

Great book to show the array of religions that kids may come across with excellent photos showing families while they observe or pray. I liked the dominance of photos over words.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Builds Bridges, March 12, 2008

By 

Patricia Gentry (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Many Ways: How Families Practice Their Beliefs and Religions (Shelley Rotner's Early Childhood Library) (Hardcover)

In about thirty pages, Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly build thirty bridges between six of the major religions of the world. In their introduction, the authors state their intention for the book: "This book is a modest attempt to help young children become aware of the diversity in spiritual traditions and of similarities between their families and those whose faith-based traditions and practices differ from their own." This beautiful book certainly succeeds. It gives children of all faiths a glimpse into the commonalities and differences between their own religion and that of their playmates and classmates. The common threads of prayer, places of worship, stories and sayings of great teachers, sacred scriptures, unique symbols, special music and holidays with special foods are interwoven through the use of beautiful pictures depicting children practicing each faith with their families.
The pictures that appear on each page are captioned and explained in more detail in an information section at the back of the book. This gives parents more detail they can use to explain to their child what they are seeing in the photographs. A list of further reading in the back gives additional sources to use to learn more about the faiths represented.
This is a wonderful book for parents to use to introduce children to a non-judgmental and respectful approach to learning about other religions as well as their own. Children learn, in a few simple words they can easily understand, about the activities children pursue together in play and going to school. They learn that families of other faiths celebrate in their own way the important times of life and rites of passage that we all mark, such as coming of age, weddings and births just as their family does. The book teaches that the beauty of the earth is enjoyed and celebrated by all people of all faiths. Most important, it reveals that all of the great teachers of all the religions have taught the same lesson: Love and care for one another.