Detailed item info | Synopsis | By combining verses from the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, tells the Easter story from Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem through his passion and resurrection to his appearance to his disciples.
| | Details | | Illustrator: | Gennadii Spirin |
| | Size | | Length: | 31 pages | | Height: | 11.5 in. | | Width: | 11.3 in. | | Thickness: | 0.2 in. | | Weight: | 17.6 oz. |
| | Publisher's Note | By combining verses from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this book tells the Easter story from Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem through His passion and Resurrection to his appearance to His disciples.
| | Industry reviews | Gr 4 Up-Mingling passages from the Easter portions of Matthew, Luke, and John, the text tells the story of Holy Week, beginning with Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and including the cleansing of the Temple, the healing of the blind and lame, the Last Supper, the agony in the garden, the appearances before Caiaphas and Pilate, the Crucifixion, the empty tomb, and the appearance to the disciples after the Resurrection. Stunningly illustrated with dignified formality, the text is printed on two backgrounds: the side of a marble building for the daytime scenes and the stone blocks of a city wall for the night. Each one faces a dramatic, full-page painting framed with a wide, white margin; in them, the luminous, iconic figure of Jesus gleams whitely among the other dark figures. In contrast, the scene on Golgotha is a dramatic double-page spread, with the distant crucified Christ illuminated as impassive soldiers on their powerful horses loom above the multitudes. The overall pictorial mood of drama, confusion, and sorrow does justice to the momentous events portrayed. Other outstanding books on this topic include Elizabeth Winthrop's He Is Risen (Holiday, 1985), with muscular and realistic illustrations by Charles Mikolaycak, and Brian Wildsmith's An Easter Story (Knopf, 1994), gorgeous in its gold and jewel colors and eye-filling details. Neither title, however, has quite the same mystical, haunting quality as Spirin's interpretation.-Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Fox
Spirin (The Christmas Story) weaves together the major biblical accounts of Jesus' passion and resurrection and adorns them with stunning tempera-and-watercolor paintings in this sensitively rendered picture book. There's no mistaking Jesus' central role in these dramatic proceedings: Spirin paints him swathed in a gentle haloed radiance-brighter than the surrounding players, literally in the spotlight. Though language from the Bible is often difficult for young readers to decipher, they will likely hear these passages anew after viewing Spirin's emotional interpretations of Jesus' ride into Jerusalem, through throngs of palm-waving followers, the breaking of the bread at the Last Supper and his suffering on the cross. Each segment of text appears against the detailed architecture of the Holy Land-be it temple, palace wall or cityscape-replete with columns, gilded domes, turrets and carefully laid stone and brick. Just as elaborate are the golden vestments worn by chief priests and officers. The scenes of Jesus' death appropriately take place in a setting black as night. But angels appear throughout, rendered in the same sacred light as Jesus, and on the final, joyous page symbolize the powerful Easter message of faith and resurrection. All ages. (Mar.)
Dirda
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