Mary Hardcover – January 1, 2002

Description

From Publishers Weekly With a confident tone and delicately wrought ink-and-watercolor paintings, Wildsmith (Exodus) outlines the life of Mary, mother of Jesus and the "Queen of Heaven and Earth." Young readers will find details both familiar and (likely) new in Wildsmith's concise if sometimes rushed-sounding text, culled from the Gospels, The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine and the Protevangelium of James.Images of baby Mary taking her first steps and dancing in the temple as a toddler instantly bring a sense of joy and humanness to the fore. From those early days, Wildsmith quickly moves through Mary's various stages of life as daughter, sister, wife, mother and eventually, most holy queen. Fittingly, the author describes the journey to Bethlehem and Jesus' birth, the wedding at Cana where Jesus performs a miracle, and Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection as significant events, but he depicts them with some distance, through Mary's eyes. The paintings, framed in gold paint in the shape of wooden altarpieces, convey Mary's story in an accessible though appropriately reverent format. Judiciously chosen items within the compositions suggest an almost psychedelic sense of pattern and color, keeping the tone informal. All ages. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Read more From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 3-Since there is relatively little information about the Virgin Mary in the New Testament, Wildsmith has pieced out his narrative with some additional legendary details drawn from the Apocryphal New Testament and the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine. They include accounts of Mary's childhood, family life with Jesus and Joseph, death, and crowning as Queen of Heaven. The simply written text reads smoothly and cohesively. The book opens with the Magnificat and closes with the Hail Mary. As usual, the artist's illustrations are sumptuous. Iridescent ink-and-watercolor pictures are highlighted with lustrous gold, stressing the divinity and beauty of Mary's life. Almost full page, with a few lines of text beneath them, they are fashioned like arched windows with elegantly decorated golden frames and show single scenes or a combination of vignettes. Royal purple and rich shades of green, blue, terracotta, and pink predominate. Wildsmith gives his imagination free rein, having Mary and Joseph approach Bethlehem in a blizzard, with angels appearing almost everywhere. The effect is splendid, rather than historically accurate. In contrast, Tomie dePaola's Mary: The Mother of Jesus (Holiday, 1995) is restrained and balanced in its illustrations and also has a simple, readable text. Each work is effective in a different way.Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Read more See all Editorial Reviews