I was at work, manning the register when this guy comes in all white of beard and quiet of manner and he asks for his special order and I hand it over, intrigued by the cover, which, as you can see, shows a dinosaur painting a picture of a white-bearded guy.
Oh, dear, I think, this could be very bad or it could be pretty cool. - I will now admit that I have a suspicion of pictures of old men with big fluffy white beards. Usually some kind of santa or god is going to be involved. My prejudice proves wrong, I am happy to say, when the man who has ordered the book and who is receiveing it with obvious glee says, "It's evolution in verse."
The guy with the white beard is Darwin, or a reasonable and amiable facsimile. The verse itself is catchy, and does not give in to simplistic language- mitochondria, for example, appears in one stanza (and, remarkably, does not feel forced). The illustrations by Robaire Ream are well-done, at once intricate and clear.
Included with the book is a cd with the book sung by a children's choir quite charmingly.
Among my favourite bits:
Evolution's the solution
to the data that we find,
when we study bones and fossils
and we keep an open mind.
Along the way, we get a time-frame, and an acceptance that not everything is known, but that we have not given up on learning what we can and are looking for more knowledge. In all, a very exciting view of scientific discovery and interpretation.
Since this is from a small publisher (Polebridge Press), the book is a bit pricey (it was about $19.00), but it is library bound (which means durable), and highly enjoyable by both the four-year-old and the thirty-nine-year old. The next oldest generation also liked it.
www.stonesandbonesbook.com is their web address if you have trouble finding it in your local bookshop. I am also going to recommend a visit there to click on things- as there is a really neat timeline, and resources for parents and kids about evolution. I am rather thrilled about this.
2 comments:
I told our children's librarian to buy it and she said she would try. Our distributor only had one copy in stock so she wasn't sure we could get it.
I read the book through after buying it at a Jesus Seminar On The Road session. It is delightfully written in well-metered verse and brings a clear message to children (and adults) about some of what's now known of our origins.
The CD with the singing of the book by the Santa Rosa Children's Chorus will probably inspire many religious education directors to include it in their musical curriculum.
Post a Comment