Winter is a time for contemplation, a reflective time to talk and think. As long as people have lived, they have tried to explain. Kris Waldherr allows parents to share with children the seasonal explanation of the Ancients and opens doors to mythology in Persephone and the Pomegranate (Dial, $14.99; ages 5-10) Waldherr gives the idyllic above-world happiness of Persephone and Demeter a light airy touch and balances this with richness of deep reds of Persephone's underworld robe, the fire of Pluto's chariot, and the pomegranate that is Persephone's undoing. There's contrast measured not just in starkness of seasons, but in facial expression and the kinds of movements made in different worlds. It's this kind of thoughtful presentation that will urge children to think, imagine and understand myth.
Cynthia Rylant tells a creation story that is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The Dreamer, illustrated by Barry Moser, tells of an artistic creator, moved to fashion a world based on his musings. He molds an earth, paints "soft, sweet-smelling grass", and finally makes more artists who have "daydreamed the most beautiful things in the world." This book might have fallen flat without the artistry of both writer and illustrator who put into pictures and prose the very miracle they describe. (Scholastic, $14.95; ages 5-9)
Man is sometimes over serious when trying to explain the workings of the world. Never has there been a more playful telling of old testament stories that Rabbi Marc Gellman's Does God Have a Big Toe?: Stories About Stories in the Bible (HarperCollins, $7.95 ; ages 7- adult) He pictures Noah, hammering away at the ark, all the time recommending his friends move to higher places or take the swimming lessons they've been putting off. He poetically describes the partnership between God and Adam. Gellman interjects humor, humanness, wit, and wondering into stories told for centuries without ever losing a sense of respect and honor.
For a more conventional read try Bill Farnsworth's beautifully illustrated companion volumes The Illustrated Children's Bible (HBJ, $19.95) and The Illustrated Children's Old Testament ( HBJ, $14.95).
When it comes to religion, our family reading is eclectic. This year we've taken amazing spiritual book journeys through an astounding number of new children's books.
Bill Farnsworth has published two beautiful companion volumes The Illustrated Children's Bible and The Illustrated Children's Old Testament . Both are published by Harcourt. Selina Hastings retells Bible stories with historical context. She brings history alive with photos and drawings that fill the margins of The Children's Illustrated Bible published by Dorling Kindersley The Bible is the foundation of several interesting new picture books. The Dreamer, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Barry Moser, tells of an artistic creator who makes a world based on his musings. Ruth Heller adds pictures to Dalia Renberg's adaptation of King Solomon and the Bee. And my children enjoyed the interactive playfulness of Wendy Madgwick's Behold! Spot-the-Difference Bible Stories.
Kris Waldherr introduced my children to Demeter in her beautiful picturing of Persephone and the Pomegranate (Dial, $14.99) We explored the psychology of the Theseus through Doris Orgel's young adult novel Ariadne, Awake. The story, told from the viewpoint of the Minotaur's half sister, is dark with emotions and drama, but lit by Orgel's image-rich writing.
In addition, this year we've gotten to know a six year old high lama through the photographs of Lois Raimondo's The Little Lama of Tibet. We've glimpsed Maori legend in Deborah Lattimore's Punga: The Goddess of Ugly. we've understood seder symbolism through Barbara Goldin's The Passover Journey. We've seen the story of Siddartha through the colorful collage of Susan Roth's Buddah! . And I've just begun a young adult nonfiction by Medicine Grizzlybear Lake called Native Healer based on his twenty year apprenticeship as a shaman.
Every step of this wandering path has caused us to pause and wonder, just as people always have and always will.