Customer Reviews

The Spyglass : A Book About Faith

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE SPYGLASS is the opposite of the "Enchanted Kingdom" books. It tells of a king and his people who regain their inner strength after a visit from a stranger. Children will enjoy the story, but there's an important message to be learned - you have to believe in yourself and others. This isn't done in a preachy way, but in the engaging text that parents and children will enjoy readng together. The paintings are beautiful.

What a beautiful enchanting story for all ages to read! I loved it, my children loved it! The Spyglass is a wonderful story to teach us (and our children) on how we view things in life. It taught me when we have faith and hope in our hearts we can reach for that which we thought was beyond our grasp. The illustrations were marvelous! I understand that this book is one in a virtues series, I can't wait to buy the whole collection. What a treasure to have! Thank you for writing a story with such uplifting values for our children! Keep them coming Mr. Evans!

I was shown this book a few years ago and wanted to get it. I found it and it sits on my shelf as a reminder of that moment when it was shared with me.

One of the greatest gifts of being human is that we can see what might be and then go and make it so. Richard Paul Evans invites us into this realm of transformation. And what is the elixir? A steady faith that things can become what we imagine they can be. Not a faith that sits by idly wishing for things to be different. But a faith where kings roll up their sleeves and clear brush with the rest of us. This is what I want my children to learn: that their imagination and hard work can transform their worlds. Now that's a beautiful way to end a day!

I admit, I can't help but be touched by a story like this. Richard Paul Evans has such a heartwarming style that all of his stories tend to suck you in with their deep meaning, or whatever.

So, yes, it's a little corny, but I think that's what we like about the man's works.

So here is another story that works on the idea of a magical spyglass meant to show the wonders of a kingdom. It's inspiring and well-written, and we can always use a good message.

I ordered this book because I like the way Richard Paul Evans writes and
I have collected his novels for adults and I wanted the books he wrote for children.
The Spyglass is an example of what we can do when we believe in a cause
or a project. In our world today, with all the technology, I think that we have lost our creativity and imagination.
The Spyglass shows us how if we just have faith to do a task, we'll be
able to do the task and complete it.
I would recommend The Spyglass for adults as well as for children.

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book that while not available at many "walk-in" book stores, was available on line at Amazon. This book provides a basis for discussion, review, or as an introduction to looking at one's vision. Could be used with many different age groups.

The Spyglass is not just for grades K-5. Our Chief Technology Officer read this story to us during our last meeting, and most of us have graduated from grade 12. He is the wise king who peers through the wrong end of the spyglass and goes forth to tell all about his great visions and we are the poor peasants who will carry out his wishes.

Children already have faith...adults should teach them reason, kindness, real knowledge, and nurture their sense of wonder.

This book was given to my kids by a well-meaning relative disconcerted that I'm not indoctrinating them with the value of just believing what people tell them without questioning BECAUSE IT JUST FEELS RIGHT, JUST BELIEVE IT, DON'T THINK, TRUST YOUR HEART, but I would rather they read books that teach them something actually positive, about kindness, or love, or a sense of wonder.

Books that emphasize faith and belief and trusting one's heart over one's mind are as subversive and dangerous and children's books can get, and I want no part of them. We already have millions of people living life and making laws and voting based on nothing but how they feel about the minute amount of information they've bothered to acquire, and we don't need more like that. Children are amazing blank slates, hungry to learn, to seek real truth, and adults just pile on their set dogmas, their idiocy, their religious beliefs, their low-information political ideologies, and it is a huge disservice to the kids.

Well, forget it: I want my kids to believe in the goodness of others and to have artistic vision, sure, but I certainly don't want a lesson of faith delivered to them in a box made of god, from a Mormon author who thinks faith trumps reason. If faith trumps reason, when was the last time religion cured a disease? Or made a life-improving discovery? Or did anything but make simple people feel better about dying or life being hard or what-have-you? No thanks, and keep your decrepit ideas away from my children.

As for this book itself, the illustrations are a creepy sort of photorealism I really don't care for--like "highlighted" Thomas Kinkade reproductions--the story is simple and easy enough, but it's loaded with god references, a veiled scripture reference, and ends on a smarmy note about FAITH BEING THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL. I beg to disagree. You might have faith that your god wants you to go to work to make money and be prosperous, while someone else has a different faith that he needs to crash a plane into your building and move onto a ridiculous afterlife; reason is what we need. Reason, a sense of wonder, a sense of gratitude for what is and what's real--these are what we need to pass on to our children, not a high, unquestioning tolerance for unprovable nonsense.

Get your kid a good book instead. I recommend the amazing OWL AT HOME, by Arnold Lobel, which teaches kindness and friendship and a bit of healthy skepticism.