Book Review :: Angels in the Bible Storybook by Allia Zobel Nolan, illustrated by Alida Massari

The Angels in the Bible Storybook is a hardcover storybook focused on the appearance of angles throughout the stories of the Bible. There is a presentation page that makes this great for gift giving.

The Angels in the Bible Storybook includes a total of 30 stories (15 from the Old Testament and 15 from the New Testament) spanning between 5 and 10 pages per story. The stories are on full-color illustrated pages. The illustrator's unique style adds to the stories. The stories may be a bit long for some little ones, but the colorful pages will help to keep their attention. The stories are definitely embellished and artistic license is taken. I definitely wouldn't use this as a main text to teach children Bible stories, but it can be useful to stretch the scope of reality a bit and help open our eyes to the presence of angels. For that reason, I recommend it. 

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through their book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

Book Review :: Portrait Revolution: Inspiration From Around The World For Creating Art In Multiple Mediums And Styles by Julia L. Kay

Portrait Revolution is such an interesting, inspirational book!

Let's go ahead and get this disclaimer out of the way - as the title states, this book is all about inspiration...not instruction. If you are looking for a "How To" book, this one is not for you.

Portrait Revolution is all about portraits (faces from the shoulders up), and has sections dividing the art by media, style, theme, and artist. There are also featured subjects (people) highlighted on 2-page spreads throughout the book. There are little tips and comments from the artists, but let's face it - this book would have been just as great (maybe even better) without most of the writing. 

I have been looking for a book like Portrait Revolution - a ton of inspiration with different styles and mediums all in one place, with images I am not concerned about sharing with my kids. My kids love to create in many forms, and I love to find great art books for them, but let's face it...not all art books are kid-friendly.

According to my 11 year old artist:

"I like all the imaginative ways of making portraits. I like seeing different versions of the same person (subject). There are a lot of drawings with good style. The one of Lewis (page 29) was cool because of the style - it was made completely of circles."

I'd definitely recommend Portrait Revolution to anyone who is wanting to be inspired to create and/or wanting to check out different artistic styles.

FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy through the Blogging for Books book review bloggers program. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.