Books in Brief

Four Books for Children

Four new children’s books merit the attention of BAR readers seeking good Biblical fare for children.

The True Cross (Oxford University Press, 1977, 28 pp. $7.95) by Brian Wildsmith is a short but wide-ranging story about the history of Jesus’ cross which mixes Biblical episodes, historical facts, and legend into a charming tale for the young reader to listen to, or, better yet, to read himself (pages 6–8). Every step in the story is illustrated simply but imaginatively by this master of children’s book illustration in colors that challenge the rainbow. The print is large to aid the young reader whose only problem with the prose may be the unfamiliarity of such proper names as Calvary, Siloam, Nazareth, and Maxentius.

A second beautiful book for children is by another longtime children’s author, Madeleine L’engle. Ladder of Angels (Seabury Press, 1979, 125 pp., $17.50) is a collection of children’s paintings illustrating Old Testament events. Executed by children between the ages of 8 and 14, the paintings are the result of an international competition sponsored by the mayor of Jerusalem in honor of the International Year of the Child. L’engle has re-written the scriptural passages pertaining to each picture. While the young child will respond warmly to the art, it is only the 12-year-old or older who will be able to appreciate the prose.