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Searching... Woodburn Public Library | 222.1 HODGES | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Revered as God's chosen leader, Moses weathered countless tests of faith as he guided his people out of slavery. This elegant telling of his inspiring story captures all the power and poetry that marked his life, from his harrowing infancy hidden in a basket in the bulrushes to his final days as he looked toward his people's freedom in the promised land.
Gorgeously illustrated by renowned artist Barry Moser, Moses will be treasured by the entire family.
Author Notes
MARGARET HODGES (1911-2005) wrote many acclaimed books for children, including the Caldecott Medal winner Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, and St. Jerome and the Lion , also illustrated by Barry Moser.
BARRY MOSER is the prizewinning illustrator of many books for children and adults. He is widely celebrated for his fully illustrated King James Version of the Bible, the only Bible of the twentieth century to be illustrated by a single artist. He lives in western Massachusetts.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Through the flowing, descriptive narrative of a storyteller, Hodges makes the story of this biblical figure memorable. Touching only on focal historical moments that directly affected Moses, she recounts the remarkable life of a boy born to a family of Hebrew slaves. Doomed to death by the Pharaoh's decree, he was saved by a courageous mother whose inner strength and trust in God passed on to her youngest son. Hodges humanizes her subject by emphasizing the obstacles he had to overcome in order to lead his people to safety, such as the fact that he stuttered and his brother, Aaron, had to speak for him. Moser's full-page watercolor paintings-one facing each page of text-expertly capture the action and emotion of each scene. The cover portrait of an aging Moses is compelling. The Ten Commandments are appended, each preceded by its Hebrew letter/number. This brief introduction to one of the most important leaders in Judeo-Christian history belongs in every public library collection.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Significant events and experiences in the life of Moses are recreated via the late Hodges's (Saint George and the Dragon) straightforward, child-friendly text in this picture-book biography. From his earliest days as an infant sent down the Nile in a bulrush basket, to his deliverance of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, Moses is portrayed as a humble man whose faith in God enabled him to be a great leader of the Jewish people. Hodges's writing succeeds in showing readers the adversity faced by the Israelites of biblical days in and expanding on the biblical passages, but does not offer any additional illumination of what Moses' personality may have been like. Moser's (Hummingbird Nest) handsome yet rather static watercolor portraits, featuring crisp borders and frequently dark backgrounds, are evocative of time and place. Unfortunately, they lack the verve that would better match the kinetic tone of the text. All ages. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
The late master storyteller marshals her prodigious power to retell the life of Moses. The striking watercolor illustrations set on creamy paper are framed and captioned. They are particularly arresting because of the use of light--sometimes blindingly bright, sometimes dark--which effectively magnifies moments in the text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Hodges retells some of the key events from the life of Moses in a well-written, fluid style that makes the ancient stories come alive for young readers or listeners. The introduction establishes why the Hebrews were in Egypt, leading to the story of Moses in his basket in the river and his discovery by the Pharaoh's daughter. The story of his life continues in chronological fashion through the ten plagues of Egypt and the Exodus. After the parting of the Red Sea and the return to Canaan, the rest is condensed into just one page, leaving out the story of the Golden Calf, the breaking of the tablets and the Covenant with the Jewish people. The final spread shows the stone tablets with the commandments in ancient Hebrew next to the commandments in English and in modern Hebrew. Moser's full-page watercolor illustrations on every other page create a strong visual personality for Moses as he ages from confident prince to elderly prophet. (Nonfiction. 6-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The venerable story of Moses gets a brisk yet compelling treatment by Hodges (who died in 2005). With a keen eye for choosing the details that will interest children the most, she starts her story with Jewish slaves laboring under the pharaoh and longing for their homeland. The rest of the tale will be familiar to many children, beginning with Moses being placed in the bulrushes and then rescued by the pharaoh's daughter. Hodges sacrifices some details for the powerful flow of the story, which skirts the years that the Jews wandered in the desert, and ends with a dying Moses who has the Promised Land in his sights. The book is beautiful to page through, with cream-colored pages and the bordered watercolors in Moser's signature style. Particularly powerful is a dark blue-and-black painting that re-creates the moment that the angel of God hides the fleeing Jewish slaves, causing the Egyptian army to lose sight of them. The individuals blur into the rocks, and older readers may see in them a visual reminder of Jews in the Holocaust. A list of the Ten Commandments, facing a portrait of the stone tablets, makes a moving, fitting conclusion for the book. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2006 Booklist