From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8–In her foreword, Lottridge states that she wanted to capture "the flavor of stories told and valued and passed on over a very long time." And she has achieved a sweet freshness in these retellings of 32 Bible tales. Her selections are faithful (e.g., there are two versions of the creation of humans, as in Genesis), but not exhaustive. Young readers won't encounter Noah's drunkenness or Lot's offer of his virgin daughters to the men of Sodom. God's curse after the Fall doesn't mention the sorrow of childbirth. Cain kills Abel, Jacob tricks his father and brother, but Bathsheba and Absalom are absent. Moses, Miriam, Ruth, David, Elijah (but no resurrection story), Jonah, Daniel, and Esther are among the familiar figures, both weak and strong, deftly passing in review. The retelling ends appropriately with the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Lottridge's phrasing is swift and forthright: the clear, plain words retain a noble gravity. Clement's 40 illustrations recall the great Warwick Hutton's: like the text, they have both immediacy and timelessness. Changes of scale and perspective remind viewers of the unexpected intervention of the divine and the unpredictability of human existence. Although stories from the Hebrew Bible are readily available, this collection commends itself by the combination of subtlety and simplicity in both words and pictures.
–Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 4-7, younger for reading aloud. Lottridge uses her storyteller's ear to bring ancient stories from the Hebrew Bible to a young audience, tailoring them to make them more age appropriate. Sometimes blending several stories together, she introduces the familiar characters--Adam and Eve, Abraham and his kin, Moses, Daniel--and writes about them in ways that bring them near. She easily slips in additional information that makes the stories more comprehensible; for instance, in discussing the relationship of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, she notes, "at that time many men had more than one wife." Still, as with most collections, there are no commentaries to help children understand some of the more startling stories, such as the binding of Isaac. The numerous, well-drawn ink-and-watercolor illustrations are reminiscent of Warwick Hutton's work. Some pictures, such as Joseph's greeting his brothers in an elaborately decorated Egyptian palace, are quite spectacular.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
