God's People - Softcover

Anna Leplar lives in Iceland with her husband and son. She originally trained as a fine artist and has worked for a number of publishers illustrating in black and white and colour. Her most recent commission has been the major DK Bible. Geraldine McCaughrean's novels and retellings for children have won her the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Whitbread Award and the Beefeater Award. A prolific author who writes for all ages, she lives in Berkshire with her husband and young daughter Ailsa.

Gr. 4^-7, younger for reading aloud. McCaughrean uses the voice of a storyteller to recount the Old Testament's history of God and His people. In conversational though not informal style, she tells of Adam and Eve, following with most of the important biblical tales--from Noah's Ark through Isaiah's prophecies of a messiah. She remains true to the King James text but develops and fleshes it out, offering explanations and tying together themes. She also brings out feelings and emotions as she imagines them, as in the story of God's demanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: "He laid his Isaac, his only son, the miracle of his old age, on the stony altar." A few references to events in the New Testament will make this a less than ecumenical purchase for libraries serving Jewish and Islamic populations--among them, a reference as Daniel emerges from the lion's den: "There was to be another cave, sealed with a stone and full of Death, from which God released a man alive." But the book will still have wide appeal, with the lively text made even more enticing by numerous watercolor illustrations depicting the people and events with historical accuracy, creativity, and tenderness. A great choice for reading aloud and one that ensures that children understand references to Jacob's ladder, Samson's hair, David and Goliath, and many of the other stories from the Old Testament that permeate our culture. Susan Dove Lempke