Jesus: His Life in Verses from the King James Holy Bible

The text of the book is outstanding and beautiful, of course. We purchased the books for little ones, thinking they would be similar to the style of Mr. Spirin's other children's books. We LOVE the work of Gennady Spirin, but this book is quite different from the artistic style of his other works. I bought several copies for children in our family. The artwork in the book comes from a much larger painting. Although gorgeous artwork, it does not lend itself well when published in a book aimed at children. The images are dark and obviously well suited in the large painting, but when transferred over to individual pages, they seem to be aimed at an older audience and the images "lose" some element-as opposed to viewing them in the original painting. The assumption that the book was made for very young children(2-8) was, perhaps my fault though. With 100% respect to the stellar Mr. Spirin we much prefer his other books, and will remain loyal fans and will purchase many more of his books! Our favorite so far is "The Night Before Christmas"!

Text is taken from King James Bible with verses chosen for their significance to the life of Jesus which is illustrated by Gennady Spirin whose work is superb, as always. This is a great book to add to the church children's library or to read at home. Adults will love the art work as well as the children.

Not good for Kindle. Too small. Can't enlarge the pictures characters. I couldn't even read it. I recommend buy the book if you decide to purchase.

Its been said, the "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts its made of". That holds true for Gennady Spirin's mini-Iconostasis of Jesus' life, and the book JESUS made from images clipped out of his painting. His painting is just a little over 3 foot by 4 foot big, tempura on canvas. The parts of his work that I find interesting, is his strange mish mash of Russian Orthodox icon styles, and Italian renascence painting from the 1400s (Quattrocento). I also enjoy the idea of creating a iconostasis of Jesus' life, that isn't pure Byzantine in expression. However, the rules of Liturgical art for the Russian Orthodox, probably forbid this painting to hang in an Orthodox church. (at least as a venerated Icon.) So, he made a book out of the painting. Its when you drag the bits and pieces from the painting, and examine them up close, that the problems exhibit themselves.In Byzantine painting, you don't have perspective like you do in renascence art. However, you DO need to stay true to your space. Spirin doesn't do this, making for some very odd looking mistakes. The angel of the Annunciation seems to have a pillar growing thru him, or if he's floating, to be MUCH larger than Mary.There's no scale that covers the whole painting--each section is its own sense of ratio. Also, altho you might have realism applied to the extremely elongated bodies in this painting, the face often looks like a cartoon, or icon from the mideaval Novgorod school. The ration use of space, and anatomical realism found in Italian quattrocento religious art clashes in an unpleasant manner, with the irrational, metaphysical Russian icons that don't acknowledge perspective, anatomy, and realism. So when you look at the painting, you cant take it in as a whole. It breaks apart, looking for an overarching esthetic system to decipher what's going on. Its too realistic at points, to be Russian Orthodox, and far too irrational, illogical, and unrealistic (especially with the faces) to be Italian quattrocento in style. I wont even mention how messy the acrylic gold metallic paint looks slathered around the halos. Obviously Spinin should have either used real gold leaf, or just painted the halos with tempera paint. These types of mistakes aren't at all professional.However, this is marketed as a children's book, not a coffee table fine art book. Its not a liturgical icon, its not a copy of quattrocento Italian art, it is its own baby, a thing onto itself. Altho I can question the artistic quality, I don't doubt the sincerity and devotion of the painter. Will children appreciate that, when they look at the bits of paintings, that are used to illustrate the milestones in Jesus' life? There again, this painting is NOT like children's illustration, which tends to be easily understood visually. Sometimes, the figures are dwarfed in their Byzantine surroundings (the castle, the pillars, etc.). The poorly rendered faces, and irrational anatomy hidden behind tons of drapery, might also confuse a young child, who might not be able to process the logic behind what they are seeing. Kids are forgiving though. If a child enjoys the paintings, or if the pictures remind them of their favorite icons from their Orthodox church, then the irrational sense of space, or anatomically incongruent bodies, wont be a problem. If I had to guess at an age group for comprehending the stylized realism of this work, or appreciating that the individual paintings all come from ONE PAINTING, then I'd say kids 8-14 years old. Much younger than 8, and they wont understand how to interpret the imagery. Much older than 14, a child might start comparing these images, with the masterpieces of renascence painting, and the "classic" liturgical Orthodox icon, as find Spirin's work lacking. If I had this book as a young kid, I'm SURE I would have been fascinated with trying to figure out how each individual piece of the painting, fit in with the whole 3 foot by 4 foot image. But if I had to chose between this book and a Children's illustrated bible to give to a child, I'd get the illustrated bible.

The word "sublime" was meant to describe a book like this.Spirin's painting, in content and manner, is as visually pleasing as the the well chosen selection of verses from the KJV Bible commemorating the Life of Christ. I was a little surprised to see HOW the book's designer, Michael Nelson, decided to best illustrate these verses - using portions of Spirin's 2010 tempera painting - in a way that I admit having never seen done before.Aside from the glorious, and that is the only word for it, main painting, seen in full at the beginning of the book, my favorite plate is that of Jesus in the Temple (pps 18-19) as it beautifully assembles everything that is both unique to Spirin and yet faithful to the Renaissance masters that he is referencing. We have an assemblage of tightly grouped figures, each in some form of reaction to the boy Jesus, who is just off center, with a far distant landscape stretching behind the massive coffered vaulting. While the perspective itself is closer to say modernity's MC Escher it works quite well here as Spirin is of our time, in a sense he has one foot in the 15th C and the other foot in the 20th C. That in itself is the manner of all artists, who often bridge centuries, cultures, and techniques at will. Spirin, if we are speaking in fussy-academic speak, is a 'synthesist' - a hybrid. And a remarkable one, an attribute he shares with the likes of an Ingres or Rubens or the 'divine Raphael' no less!And while I am not entirely sure I like excising various episodes from the whole image (removed digitally and then placed on an isolated page with the verse) I have to admit that overall it does achieve the editor and designer's main intention. What I would suggest to the readers/viewers is to return to the main painting with each excerpted detail and find it in the larger painting, noting both the thematic and theological placement that Spirin chose in his painting.Gennady Spirin is a throw-back to what had been a well honed tradition in painting, in both his training and his insistence on preserving the many contributions to this training going back now some 700 years or more. Were the likes of Giotto, Gozzoli, Andrea del Castagno, Mantegna, Sassetta, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico et al flipping through this book today they would no doubt feel on familiar ground and nod approvingly. There is also inspiration from the gorgeous illuminated manuscripts of Northern Europe in play here, both in the landscape and minute descriptive passages found in the extravagant clothing, emphatic expressions and figurative gestures, the table settings, and blazing, fiery angels!All of these masters intended that their works offer a kind of perpetual appeal to the Viewer, to the lucky patrons who both commissioned and owned such works. We should do no less, and once we share this book with family, children, or simply ourselves, keep in mind that we still missed most of what Spirin has included! Read often, and read with the weight of the words as they were surely meant to be felt alongside these vignettes.This is a lovely gift for any child, of any age, and for art lovers in particular, and surely Spirins' painting is unlike anything we will see during the popular celebration of all things Santa and elves and Grinches and snowmen dotting every mall and magazine spread. To that I am myself guilty, I adore all things Christmas, from the tacky snowmen candles to 8 pounds of tinsel on a 4 ft tree to a stack of Christmas carols and songs (sing it Ella!) playing from Thanksgiving onward.But I am not too kitschy, however, to not exult in a bit of very fine imagery meant to embellish even more profound words, and so, sit back, listen to Seabird's Go Tell it on the Mountain and then maybe Dan Fogelberg's Same Old Lang Syne, and you too can have your heart and soul in many places at once.

The story of Jesus compiled with excerpts from the King James Bible. Clear and concise writing.Nice to have the story laid out in a linear fashion. Great for Sunday school as you can quickly find the relevant verse.

Loving illustration - something which will allow children to connect in a beautiful manner to the story of Christ. The artwork is as intricate as a Renaissance painting and the writing are actual bible verses. The story is brief yet complete. Simply a book for all interested in this story - definitely a wonderful gift for all ages.