The Amazing Life of Jesus

The Amazing Life of Jesus is another in the Lift-the-Flap Bible Book series. In this book writer-illustrator team Allia Zobel-Nolan and Steve Cox condense the life of Jesus into five short stories: Jesus is Born, Jesus Calls His Followers; Jesus Feeds the Hungry Crowd (feeding of the 5000); Jesus is Hailed as King (Palm Sunday); Jesus Rises from the Dead. Each two-page spread offers four lines of rhyming text and several interactive flaps for further discovery and learning.

The flaps, more than 45 throughout the book, teach counting (1-10), matching pairs (find two identical animals) and babies (baby animals to their parents), action words (11 different verbs) and colors (purple, orange, blue, green, red and yellow).

Like all books in this series, the illustrations are vibrant. The cartoon-like drawings are happy and inviting.

What I Like: Biblical references are provided with each story. I always like that. I love the interactive nature and the "hidden" preschool lessons. My kids love these books, so the bigger size is great for sharing over three laps. This book (and others in the series) measure a whopping 10 x 12".

What I Dislike: This book tackles too much. Granted, condensing the life of the Messiah to 5-10 rhyming sentences is a monumental task! But I would prefer a longer, more inclusive book or a smaller subject range. Rather than telling the life of Jesus, why not tell the parables of Jesus or the miracles of Jesus? More specific content would fit better in this format.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Age Appeal: The book says 3 and above, but I think children as young as 18 months would enjoy this book.

Publisher Info: Kregel KidZone, 2005; ISBN: 0825455227; Boardbook; $10.99

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Special Info: This book is also available in Spanish through Christianbook.com.