The Clown of God

The Clown of God Tomie dePaola Harcourt Brace, 1978 I’ve loved The Clown of God for a long, long time. I remember checking it out from the library over and over as a child. Before I had kids – and thus, before I had any sense about what a new mom might need – I [...]

The Jesus Storybook Bible

The Jesus Storybook Bible Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago Zonderkidz, 2007 I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to write this review. We’ve had a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible since my (now 5-year-old) daughter was two, and she and I have read it from cover to cover at least twice. I guess I’m [...]

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Brother Sun, Sister Moon Katherine Paterson and Pamela Dalton Handprint Books, 2011 According to tradition, Francis of Assisi composed The Canticle of the Sun (or Laudes Creaturarum, “praise of the creatures”) toward the end of his life, around 1224. Written in the Umbrian dialect – rather than church Latin – it is a beautiful song praise [...]

The Christmas Troll

The Christmas Troll Eugene Peterson & Will Terry NavPress, 2004 Christmas is about the Incarnation; we all know that.  But I’m going to venture a guess that gift-giving is part of how your family celebrates Christmas Day.  My family does, at least, and I think it’s a perfectly fine tradition.  As we reflect in gratitude [...]

Dangerous Journey

Dangerous Journey arranged by Oliver Hunkin, illus. Alan Parry Eerdmans, 1985 It’s almost upon us, friends. Advent begins in less than two weeks, and here at Aslan’s Library we’ve been thinking about books and resources your family might want to use during the upcoming season of waiting and preparation. And let’s face it, most of [...]

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa Demi Margeret K. McElderry Books, 2005 For those of us who grew up in the closing years of the twentieth century, Mother Teresa is something of an icon. She stands for everything that is saintly, good, and – well, all too often, unattainable. “What do you expect,” I remember friends in high school [...]

The Bronze Bow

The Bronze Bow Elizabeth George Speare Houghton Mifflin, 1961 I don’t know how I missed The Bronze Bow when I was a young reader. I loved Elizabeth George Speare’s debut novel, Calico Captive and the Newbery-winning The Witch of Blackbird Pond.  But somehow The Bronze Bow (also a Newbery medalist) never made it home from the [...]

Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark Jerry Pinkney Chronicle Books, 2002 As we’ve mentioned before, “the Noah problem” has become shorthand around Aslan’s Library for an all-too-common pitfall in Christian kidlit: Bible story books that completely miss the point. It’s pretty difficult to find a flood-story picture book that echoes the gravity of the biblical narrative. (After all: this is [...]

Joseph

Joseph Brian Wildsmith Eerdmans, 1997 Some of you may remember that I love Brian Wildsmith’s work. My first encounter with it, actually, was last summer at our lake home – Haley’s niece asked me to read her Joseph one lazy, hot early evening. Together we admired the pictures, and then got into an involved discussion about [...]

To Everything There Is a Season

To Everything There Is a Season Jude Daly Eerdmans, 2006 Less than a month ago I told Sarah that I was giving up on picture books about Ecclesiastes.  I had read several and was, to be frank, astonished at how some illustrators chose to depict certain verses.  But here I am a few weeks later [...]