Mouse Tales, Things Hoped For

Title:  Mouse Tales, Things Hoped For

Author: Ruth L. Boling

Illustrator:  Tracey Dahle Carrier

Publisher:  Westminster John Knox

ISBN:  13-978-0-664-22705-0

Audience:  4-6 years

Summary:  This book is broken into 14 chapters to be used as curriculum during Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and into a few weeks of Ordinary Time.  Each chapter is very topical and revolves around the lives and characters of The Church of The Least of These, with all the characters being church mice.  Each chapter is brilliantly written to portray the personalities of the church members and the interactions between them.  There are examples of jealousy, power-struggles, aged, newborns, sick and healthy.  The underlying characteristic of all the characters is one of love and interest in working together for the common good.  The book is clever in style and reformed in theology.  This book is an excellent resource.

Literary elements at work in the story:  This story is in a narrative form and tells a story of The Church of the Least of These.  The book begins as a pictorial directory of the church, showing a group photo of all the members, followed by individual pictures and a short biography of the twelve main characters.  The story begins on the first Sunday of Advent and is a serial, continuing in character and plot from chapter to chapter, or from week to week.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  The book is all inclusive, showing different shades of color, gender, economic status and church mice from different societal points of view.  The book is written in a manner that one never thinks of the differences in gender, race, culture or economics as the stories unfold.   The underlying theme of the entire book is God’s promises for “the least of these” from Jeremiah, Luke and Matthew.

Theological Conversation Partners:    As we participate in this book, we are shown how the beautifully illustrated mice live in community, both within and outside the church.  The love and concern displayed for all the characters comes through the story over and over – while displaying the diversity and variety of personalities.  Our communities and our communities of faith are displayed beautifully in these stories that take us through the beginning of the Church calendar for 14 weeks.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What is the importance of the Clothing Exchange mentioned in the first chapter of the book?
2. Why is it important to Max that Papa Jordan light the Advent candle successfully?
3. What emotions are displayed when Rose Noel falls on the ice and fractures her ankle?
4. What emotions are displayed when Ernest admitted throwing the rocks and causing Rose Noel to fall on the ice?
5. Amber is new to the church family – describe her personality traits and characteristics throughout the book.
6. Discuss the importance of Amber refusing to participate in the play reading the Beatitudes.

This review was written by Union Prebyterian Seminary student Becky Albright.

The Easter Story

Book: The Easter Story

Author:  Carol Heyer

Illustrator: Carol Heyer

Publisher: Ideal Children’s Books

ISBN:  0-8249-8429-0

Audience: Ages 4 and up

Summary: This story is written in a simplistic manner for the age group, with beautiful illustrations.  It begins in a contemporary fashion showing Easter as a time of newness and Easter baskets filled with eggs and candy.  It quickly moves to Jesus and all that Jesus did for us.  On the second page there is a beautiful picture and a simple description of the birth of Christ.  It goes very quickly to the teachings of Jesus, healing the sick, telling parables, giving the Commandments, and Palm Sunday.  The story goes into the Last Supper, using words such as “unleavened” and “Passover”.    The story continues with the Garden, the last day, the Crucifixion, the empty tomb, and seeing Jesus again.

Literary elements at work in the story:  This story is in a narrative form that is connected in a way that moves from Easter to Christmas and back to Holy Week and Easter.The majority of the book describes the events of Holy Week.There are words used that will be difficult for a small child, but to begin hearing words such as “Passover” and “unleavened” will allow the readers to question the meaning of the words.  Consequently the vocabularies of the young readers can be expanded.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/abilitymake a difference to the story?  This is handled appropriately and the characters are all portrayed as Middle Easterners.

Theological Conversation Partners:  This book moved on page 2 to the birth of Christ, which is very appropriate.  The reverse should also be the case in stories written about Christmas (i.e., Christmas is of little significance without the Easter Story).  It is the resurrection of Christ – The Easter Story – that makes the birth of Christ significant.  Without the Easter Story, the manger would have been the birth of a child – any child.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Why does the story open with the Easter Story and immediately go to the birth narrative?
2. Why did Jesus get so angry with the people in the temple?
3. Why did the people and the temple leaders turn away from him?
4. What is the significance of the thunder and lightning in the dark sky after Jesus’ death?
5. What is the significance of the empty tomb found by the ladies?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Becky Albright.

The Nativity

Even after all these years, my favorite Christmas book is still The Nativity by illustrator Julie Vivas. I remember clearly picking it up for the first time in Narnia Bookstore in Richmond while I was working on my Masters degrees. The illustrations captivated me as I stood in the small Carytown store in Richmond, VA and through the years I must have given this simple yet profound book as a gift well over a hundred times. The text is straight biblical narrative beginning with the familiar, “In the days of Herod the King, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Nazareth…”

While the words evoke memories of story told in worship, church school and around family suppers it is the illustrations, in this case, that open possibilities of new insights for young and old alike. You know immediately that something is different as the first page introduces you to a Gabriel you may not have considered before – an angel wearing combat boots. It makes sense, really.  They are quite busy in the infancy narrative, appearing to Mary, the shepherds and singing with the choir of heavenly hosts, and though they bring “good tidings” they find themselves in uncharted territory announcing the birth of the Messiah.

Vivas continues to fascinate –  tattered wings, angels in trees, an unsuspecting Mary hanging laundry and an annunciation over a cup of tea at the kitchen table. Many pages have no words but the message is quite clear as she shares the news with Joseph and grows great with child. This Mary is real, and really pregnant, as she and her betrothed figure out how to get her up on the donkey to head to Bethlehem, join those who head home for census and encounter “no room in the inn.” Each page is a delight to the eye but I think my favorite is the one where Joseph is holding the “new born babe” while he provides back support for an exhausted Mary.

There are so ways in which this book can be used beyond a simple and straightforward reading. Readers and non-readers alike can “tell the story” in their own words using only the illustrations as prompts. This can be done in small groups with the book or in large groups projected on a screen. Music, from the “Messiah” to “Mary, Did You Know?” can be added to a timed projection or reflection questions created for each illustration that probes the deeper meaning and personal engagement….Why do you think the angel wore combat boots? What do you think about tattered wings on angels? Why would they be tattered? Why do we rarely see Joseph holding the baby? In what ways might your own expression been similar or dissimilar to those of the shepherds? In what ways do these illustrations help you think differently about the Christmas story?

However you choose to use it, I commend its use to you. It is a beautiful and startling rendering of the coming of Jesus.

Dr. Rebecca Davis, who was part of the original teaching team for the course that was the impetus for this blog, offers this summary of one of her favorite Christmas books.  Becky is a graduate of the Seminary and now teaches at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC.

Christmas!

One of my favorite Christmas books is the aptly titled Peter Spier’s Christmas!. This book doesn’t have any text at all—which might seem like a challenge at first glance, but once you look at gloriously detailed, colorful and lively artwork, you realize that truly a picture is worth 1,000 words!

The book goes through the holiday season with one family in the town they live in, and begins with them shopping under a sign that reads “12 days til Christmas”. The pictures go on through all of the usual preparation for Christmas: gift-buying, decorating, cooking meals.  But the book contains more than the typical preparation for Christmas: it also shows the family visiting and bringing gifts to elderly neighbors, donating to a toy drive, making and sending Christmas cards (that might be a novel idea to some children today!), setting up the nativity scene, and going to worship services. It goes on to show the joy and excitement of Christmas Day: presents, meals with family, being together in celebration. This book is also unique in its portrayal of what happens after Christmas: it shows the reality of cleaning up the house, putting away decorations, and even some sad pictures of discarded wreaths and Christmas trees. But the book ends on a hopeful note, as the town returns to normal: the image of new trees growing and a sign reading “353 days left before Christmas”.

Up until I was in middle school (seriously!), my mother read to my siblings and me every night. Usually it was just a chapter of a book, but if we picked a shorter book, she’d read the whole thing. You’d think a book without words would be challenging, but this was always one of my mother’s favorites for us to pick, and we enjoyed it, too, because she would describe every picture, making a story out of it. She’d also compare what was going on in the pictures to what we did to celebrate our Christmas (“look, there they are setting up the manger scene, just like we did”). And she saw the detail in every little picture (in the pictures of the church service, there are owls up in the bell tower, which she always pointed out, to our delight!). Sitting next to my mother and siblings, looking at these beautiful pictures in the light of our own Christmas tree is one of my fondest memories.

I can’t even begin to describe how vibrant and detailed these pictures are—you will not miss the text, because the pictures will be telling you a story as you look at them. If I was using it in a church setting, I might use it in a small Sunday school class, so the children could see all the pictures up close and talk about all the details. You could also get the children to tell you about each picture and see if they make connections to your church or their family’s Christmas celebrations. In a worship setting, you might display one or two of the images to talk about during the service. This book has Christian elements, without overtly telling the story of Jesus. But one picture shows the town asleep, under snow, as one star shines brilliantly in the sky, and we are reminded that the story of joy and redemption and Jesus coming into the world is told in all kinds of places:  little towns called Bethlehem, sleepy towns covered in snow, and in the all the big and small places we call home.

Sara Anne Berger, a Union Presbyterian Seminary graduate who wrote a quarter of Lectionary Links for us, was happy to share this memory of one of her favorite childhood Christmas books.  It’s another that is out of print, but check out the usual places to find good used copies.

The First Noel: A Holiday Pop-up Book

During this season of Advent, I asked several of our previous writers to share some of their favorite Christmas books either from childhood or now!  Elizabeth Boulware Landes, a graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary who wrote a quarter of Lectionary Links, starts us off with one of her favorites.

Name of Book:  The First Noel: A Holiday Pop-up Book

Author/Illustrator:   Pat Paris

Publisher: Broadman & Holman Publishers (October 1998)

ISBN: 9780805417937

Growing up I was always excited when the Christmas boxes would come down from the attic because that meant the Christmas books were out. My brothers and I had two pop-up books that we would read all the time. We read them so much that one of them is barely holding together. I am looking forward to the day that I can share these books with my children. One of these books is The First Noel. It is a beautiful illustration of the first verse of this well-known and well-loved Christmas hymn. While the words are familiar, the illustrations are what make the book worth reading. The background of each page is a vivid color while the scenes of the text dance before your eyes as paper pop-ups in white and gold. The simplicity of the text and illustrations allow for a new hearing and deeper reflection of the Christmas story. It is easy to forget that Christmas extends to Epiphany because life calms down during the days following Christmas, and using this book the Sunday after Christmas in worship would help us acknowledge the sustained excitement felt the world round immediately following the birth of Jesus. It brings to life the elation brought to so many, and the journeys taken to meet the newborn king.

(Ed. Note:  Since this book is out of print, it could be hard to find.  The book link above shows some places you can buy used copies.  We also love ALibris and AbeBooks as good sources of out of print books.

And since Elizabeth has pointed out a book that uses a unique form of  paper manipulation as illustration, we’d like to recommend another lovely title that uses a paper cutting technique to illustrate the Christmas story.  The First Noel: A Christmas Carousel opens up into the shape of a star, with each panel telling a portion of the Christmas story through unique paper cuts.  You can see a picture of this book opened on the Smithsonian Libraries’ Flickr Photostream.)

Night Tree

Name of Book:  Night Tree

Author:  Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Ted Rand

Publisher: Voyager Books Harcourt Brace & Company

ISBN: 978-0152001216

Audience:  Ages4-8

Summary:  On Christmas Eve, a family treks into the woods to trim an evergreen with edible decorations for the forest animals.

Literary elements at work in the story:  A fictional telling of a family Christmas Eve ritual told from the point of view of the about 10 year old son. The text has a quiet, reverential tone and the illustrations are in Ted Rand’s characteristic glowing style. Father, Mother, son and young daughter smile, sing and take care of the natural world and each other in this sweet picture book.

Theological conversation partners:  The endearing text and beautiful illustrations are reason enough to have this book in a family library but its link to the observance of Advent makes it a faithful choice as well. Anticipating the yearly event, preparing (“For weeks we’ve been making balls of sunflower seeds and pressed millet and honey.”) and showing light in the dark night are qualities of the Advent season. There is a contemplative feel of the next to last page’s wording and painting of the boy tucked in bed looking out the window. The boy’s face turned to and illuminated by the full moon conveys peace and wondering.

Faith Talk Questions: 

1. What rituals do you remember from your childhood Advent seasons?  
2. What rituals are a part of your family’s Advent observance?
3. How is light portrayed in Night Tree?
4. What was the boy thinking about in bed after the family’s pilgrimage to the woods? When you are feeling reflective, to where do you “let your mind go back”?
5. The family extends generosity to each other in their interactions and to the woodland animals in their tree decorating. What are examples of generous acts given during holiday celebrations?

This faith review was prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Robin Crawford.

May We Suggest……

Dr. Pamela Mitchell Legg, professor of Christian Education at the Union Presbyterian Seminary Charlotte campus, continues to teach her course on children’s and adolescents’ literature that was the impetus for this blog.  As we move into Advent and Christmas, she offers a bibliography of ten books that she loves.  They range from picture books to story Bibles and we hope you find something that helps you pick out a gift for a child or young person in your life!

Other lists that we love in evaluating books to purchase for our younger friends can be found here:

• The American Library Association’s yearly list of notable books for children and adolescents
• The BankStreet College of Education suggests the best books of the year broken down into several different age ranges.  Their reviewers occasionally include children!
• Publishers Weekly breaks down their best books of 2012 into picture books, fiction and non-fiction.  (And you can see their suggestions for best books for 2012 for adults as well.)

What books are you giving this year?

My Favorite Books for Christmas 2012

We’re Taking a Short Break….

As Union Presbyterian Seminary is now closed for the holidays, we’re also taking a brief break from our Monday and Wednesday faith reviews.  We will continue to post our Lectionary Links for upcoming Sundays on Friday mornings throughout the holiday, and will return with our reviews on Monday, January 2, 2012.

We wish all of our readers a joyous celebration of Christ’s birth, and God’s blessings of peace and love for all the world in the coming new year.

Image used under Creative Commons License:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseysworld/313342138/

What’s Your Favorite Christmas Book?

Dr. Pamela Mitchell-Legg, professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, teaches a course on using children’s and adolescent literature in the church.  (It was her students’ work that provided the push to get this blog going!)  She offers a gift of a bibliography of her favorite Christmas and Advent books.  Click on the link below to download it and head to your favorite bookstore or library!

Christmas and Advent Favorites

Christmas Books for Elementary Children

Librarian and regular reviewer Janet Lloyd offers a collection of suggestions for Christmas reading with elementary students.

Click on the link below to print these bibliographies.  And don’t forget, we would love to hear your suggestions for books to use with this age group.  Please leave your comments below!

Christmas Books for Grades 1-3

Christmas Bibliography Grades 3_5