Thursday, February 3, 2011

Moses' Memory Book by Allia Zobel Nolan

Moses' Memory Book:  How God Led His People and Me out of Egypt and into the Promised Land by Allia Zobel Nolan.  Illustrated by Linda Clearwater.  Published by Harvest House, 2010.

The biblical book of Exodus details the story of Moses leading the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan.  From the Ten Plagues to the Ten Commandments to the Israelites reluctance to enter the land, there are a lot of details for a child to understand and remember.

Moses' Memory Book presents the Exodus story as a scrapbook with Moses narrating the story to his readers.  He begins with his calling at the burning bush and ends right before passing his position to Joshua.  All of the major events of the story are touched on - from the perspective of Moses.

I really like the concept of this book.  Most children can relate to retelling the story of a trip through a scrapbook or photo album so I think children can easily understand the Exodus story through this book.  The illustrations are very cute and look almost like a cartoon, which also helps children to engage with the story.

The book is laid out as a chapter book but contains many illustrations.  I think it would be appropriate for readers from 5 to 10 years old.  Older children should have no difficulty reading the story on their own.

Even though I enjoyed this children's book, there are parts that make me a little uncomfortable.  I think that the author is attempting to use humor and wording children will understand.  While I appreciate tongue-in-cheek humor, I'm just not sure that my children can discern between what is meant to be funny and what is meant to be smart-aleky.

Overall, I found Moses' Memory Book to be a cute re-telling of the Exodus story and will be enjoyed by both parents and children.

Do you have a favorite children's book that tells all or part of the story of Moses and the Exodus?


Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book from Harvest House Publishers for me to review.  The opinions are my own and were not influenced by the publisher or author.

You may also be interested in my brief review of Lift the Flap Nativity by the same author.

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