Inviting Bible stories enhanced by vivid artwork; will hold strong appeal for children.
An illustrated version of the Bible that uses accessible language to bring Scripture to life.
This storybook Bible, which draws upon the New International Version, shares a verse per chapter by telling the stories and applying them to everyday life. In the opening note to parents, caregivers, and teachers, McCaulley explains that he’s selected 31 stories that focus on two themes: First, that God loves everyone, and “his desire is to form a very diverse family,” and second, that “in a world where many people are sick, poor, needy, and hurting,” the Bible offers guidance on “justice for the marginalized.” The first entry tells the story of creation before going on to highlight familiar figures like Abraham, Joseph, and David, as well as more obscure ones, such as three women from Exodus named Jochebed, Puah, and Shiphrah. The second half of the book covers the New Testament, including stories about Jesus—his birth, significant life events, death, and resurrection. Readers will also find accounts of vulnerable people who were affected by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The vibrant illustrations are delightful and encompass a significant portion of the book. They portray both historical and contemporary scenes, showing people with a range of skin tones and hair textures. The beautiful messages that “God made a diverse world containing every imaginable shape and color” and “…you are a gift. You are a story” resonate in this relatable Bible.
Inviting Bible stories enhanced by vivid artwork; will hold strong appeal for children. (Religious nonfiction. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781496459886
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Tyndale Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40.
From two Nobel Peace Prize winners, an invitation to look past sadness and loneliness to the joy that surrounds us.
Bobbing in the wake of 2016’s heavyweight Book of Joy (2016), this brief but buoyant address to young readers offers an earnest insight: “If you just focus on the thing that is making / you sad, then the sadness is all you see. / But if you look around, you will / see that joy is everywhere.” López expands the simply delivered proposal in fresh and lyrical ways—beginning with paired scenes of the authors as solitary children growing up in very different circumstances on (as they put it) “opposite sides of the world,” then meeting as young friends bonded by streams of rainbow bunting and going on to share their exuberantly hued joy with a group of dancers diverse in terms of age, race, culture, and locale while urging readers to do the same. Though on the whole this comes off as a bit bland (the banter and hilarity that characterized the authors’ recorded interchanges are absent here) and their advice just to look away from the sad things may seem facile in view of what too many children are inescapably faced with, still, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the world more qualified to deliver such a message than these two. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Hundreds of pages of unbridled uplift boiled down to 40. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48423-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
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