The Lord's Prayer

Rating:
Summary: An inherently impressive work of inspired and inspiring art
Review: Beautifully illuminated throughout by the museum quality artwork of Heidi Holder, The Lord's Prayer is presented in the manner and form of a medieval manuscript with each spectacular illustration accompanying each phrase of the short text of Jesus' famous example of prayer as found in the New Testament gospels. Holder's meticulous renderings of animals, birds, insects, traditional religious symbols, gardens, wildlands, and distant castles transform this picturebook into an inherently impressive work of inspired and inspiring art. If you only have budge enough for acquiring a single picturebook for a Christian child, make it Heidi Holder's The Lord's Prayer.


Rating:
Summary: A book His children will never outgrow
Review: There is no age level printed anywhere on this book, and with good reason. "The Lord's Prayer" defies traditional catalog descriptions and becomes a book for all ages. Younger readers will pore over each page to see how many different creatures are depicted in Heidi Holder's detail-packed illustrations and along the page borders. Older readers will find the book an endless source of contemplation, with familiar Christian symbolism beautifully woven into the pictures. The cross, the symbol of redemption is rendered as both a simple adornment of each illustration and in dozens of tiny snowflake-like embellishments, no two exactly alike. And yet, though lush landscapes, rambling castles and cozy villages are part of many of the illustrations, not a single human is visible.

Following the main text are Ms. Holder's acknowledgements of various visual sources and her thoughts on the significance of each image. It's an invitation for the reader to continue a spiritual experience that begins with a devout contemplation of the Lord's Prayer.