Saint Patrick the Forgiver: The History and Legends of Ireland’s Bishop

Written and Illustrated by Ned Bustard

As a historian, I am familiar with the life of Saint Patrick, but this beautiful picture book written in rhyme presents Patrick in a novel way for both children and adults.

The line cut illustrations in brilliant colors combined with the rhymes that are fun to read and roll off the tongue compel readers to revisit the book and its lessons. Bustard integrates the larger-than-life legends about Patrick, but lays bare his personal human struggles. How could he forgive the slave captors who had kidnapped him and obey God’s calling to voluntarily return to the site of his captivity? Children immediately realize his torment and feel how difficult it might be to forgive.

This book is a good choice for Christian parents seeking to explain the role of St. Patrick in Ireland’s history or for educators teaching about the St. Patrick holiday. It teaches them a valuable lesson about forgiveness.

Highly recommended for children of all ages and adults who enjoy reading a well-written rhyming picture book that educates the mind while pleasing the eye.

– Reviewed by Barbara Ann Mojica, children’s book author, for Net Galley

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Writing The Bible for Children: How to Write Blazing Biblical Stories and Picture Books for Kids

Written by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod

I was drawn to this book by the second part of the title. Because I write picture books for kids (and adults), I was curious to see how the author would connect the concept with the writing of biblical stories.

Strangely enough, she begins by stating the reasons for NOT writing Biblical stories. These include the wish to get rich, demonstrate superior intelligence or the presumption that you and your religion can teach better than anyone else. The correct reason for writing them is that the Bible is full of timeless stories that can be meaningful to any generation. Proceeding from there, the author lays out how to write such a story, how and where to search for one, the journalistic method , the technique of story flow, presenting the protagonist, writing the dialogue, and presenting your point of view.

Once your story is written, the really hard work begins. The author must edit over and over again, gather the artwork, design the cover, correctly format the work and then publish the story. Authors must know how to interpret the inconsistencies in the Bible and reconcile them with their own view of Christianity. MacLeod gives the writer some excellent pointers on how to avoid mistakes that can derail a book if the appropriate illustrations are not carefully chosen to correlate with the meaning of the text.

I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s presentation and common sense advice. Even though I have never written a Biblical story, I appreciate the relevance of the topic to that of writing picture books for children. This book is a must for writers as well as parents, librarians or teachers who are the vehicles for providing access to the literature that their children read.

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Spirits Bright: A Christmas Collection

Written by Angie Lofthouse

Interesting collection of four very different stories centered around a Christian theme. In “Spirits Bright,” the reader meets Jacey Morris who is so entangled with her computer world that she rarely leaves her home, often forgetting to wash and eat. When her computer game suddenly goes down, and she hears a knock on the door, the world that has become her reality suddenly collapses. She is about to meet two Mormon missionaries who will introduce her to an alternate universe. The second story titled “Milly’s Gift” introduces the reader to a world that has recently been freed from the domination of alien invaders who had been in control for many years. Now the people called the renegades are shedding the trappings of domination and trying to find their own identities. Jerrin and Milly struggle to readjust and find a family to give them a sense of purpose and belonging. “Living Water” is the tale of an anthropology professor called Sean who is visiting the family of his mentor. Sean was born on Earth, but his mentor comes from another world about to celebrate their Nativity Festival. Sean is trying to explain Christmas to them. He will have an adventure with this family that will bring their two cultures closer together yet still leave them miles apart. Finally, in the last story named “Chosen Vessel” Shaalim, the Keeper of a lightship bringing the founders of a new civilization through outer space, faces a crisis when the ship is taken off course and forced to land on another planet. He is given a task by a heavenly messenger. The crew is divided about whether to use force to subdue the planet’s inhabitants; some of the planet’s citizens have been persecuted, while others have prospered. This sci-fi adventure takes many interesting twists and turns.

These stories are an interesting blend of Christianity, science fiction, holiday traditions, and cultural mores. They contain interesting plots and fairly well developed characters, considering the fact that all four stories take up less than 150 pages. Appropriate for tweens, teens and adults, they are a quick and pleasant holiday afternoon read.

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