Detailed item info | Synopsis | A collection of stories drawn from the Bible and the Midrash telling of twenty heroes and heroines including Abraham, Moses, Samson, Deborah, Elijah, and six other prophets.
| | Details | | Illustrator: | David Diaz |
| | Size | | Length: | 256 pages | | Height: | 11.0 in. | | Width: | 9.0 in. | | Thickness: | 1.0 in. | | Weight: | 36.0 oz. |
| | Publisher's Note | Eric Kimmel weaves favorite biblical tales with lesser known ones form the "Midrash" to create a suspenseful, accessible collection that reads like a novel. The story begins with Abraham, who as a boy searched for and discovered a God greater than the idols others worshipped. It continues with vivid portrayals of nineteen other leaders, including beloved characters like Samson, David, Deborah, and Daniel, and less familiar ones like Miriam, Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. These heroes and heroines accomplish incredible feats yet also exhibit human weaknesses. And, like a father, God remains constant in his love but must teach his children the error of their ways.
| | Industry reviews | Gr 4 Up These stories about 19 men and 1 woman are subtitled "Legends from the Bible," but the fabric of the book is canonical, adding details and incidents from ancient midrashic tradition. The grafts emphasize magic: on their way through the Red Sea, for example, the Israelites are able to pluck fish, pearls, and diamonds from the high walls of water to either side. Yet, paradoxically, this volume does not edit out the violent and cruel: Achan's stoning, Eli's broken neck, and the rape of Tamar are all mentioned in their place, and an explicit description of the horrendous death of a little girl is given as evidence of the corruption of Sodom. Despite the magic, then, it would seem from the lack of expurgation and the straightforward but rather dry style that an older readership is required. In Miriam Chaikin's Clouds of Glory (Clarion, 1998), which ends (with Abraham) about where Kimmel begins, midrash and lively vernacular attract younger listeners. Kimmel's retelling may be more faithful to the Hebrew, but is not so vivid, and readers seldom have a sense of what the characters are thinking or feeling. Diaz provides 20 full-page bold, massy silhouettes, placed against delicate watercolor backgrounds and set off by vibrant black- and color-edged borders. Color inserts enliven the cut-out shapes, giving some a stained-glass effect. A few figures, minus necks, seem to have lost control of their floating heads, but the style is particularly good at suggesting tendrils of hair, wooly tunics, and curling flames. Colorful end maps contrast the Middle East at three ancient periods with today. Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Lopate
The retellings of the stories . . . are quite wonderful. Dignified, yet not so earnest that young people will be bored, these stories catch the humanity of the characters as well as the conundrum that is God as he injects himself into the lives of his creations. . . . Although Kimmel never resorts to sensationalism, these are powerful, even disturbing stories--something often forgotten by those who remember only the sanitized versions generally seen in collections of Bible stories. Power also appears in the artwork of Caldecott medalist David Diaz, which is arrestingly different from his previous work. The collage-style art, featuring cut silhouettes of black and light papers set against softer backgrounds, is dynamic. The whole book, in fact, is elegantly and thoughtfully designed.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Cooper
[This book] intertwines biblical stories with additional and often entertaining materials from the Midrash. . . . Apart from a few examples in a note on sources, Kimmel doesn't tell readers which details are authentically biblical, which merely traditional, which his own additions. As a result, the book is useless as an introduction to matters of faith, equally useless as an accurate guide to the traditional materials it lumps together. Furthermore, while Kimmel's explanatory insertions create a sense of documentary authenticity, they do so by enmeshing the biblical and traditional materials in a constraining web of flat prose that not only undermines their status as expressions of divine truth but also makes them much less entertaining stories than they should be. Like Kimmel's text, David Diaz's illustrations, strong but lifeless black figures silhouetted against patches of rich color, achieve a contemporary feeling by sacrificing the vitality of their subjects.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Nodelman
[Kimmel] retells the stories of Biblical heroes and heroines in formal but accessible prose. . . . David Diaz eschews his usual busy collage backgrounds for semi-silhouettes of Old Testament personages set against a rainbow of hues in full-page compositions notable for their controlled authority. The cut-paper portraits have solid black edges offset by the integration of translucent colors that give them a stained glass effect. From the use of color in headings and chapter banners to the small thumbnail inserts that open and close each story, this is a carefully designed volume, its oversized trim adding a hefty physical weight to what is, despite its boldly eye-catching packaging, a very traditional interpretation. . . . Grades six to nine.
Annotation copyright H.W. Wilson Company.
Del Negro
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