Search results for ""Author Gerald McDermott""

With its shocking-pink jacket and swirls of brilliant designs, McDermott's retelling of this rain forest tale is visually arresting but narratively a bit colorless. The reputed trickster Jabuti gets his comeuppance when a jealous Vulture offers to fly the tortoise and his flute to the King of Heaven's festival of song, then wickedly drops his passenger down from the skies. The King of Heaven chastises the vulture, and the birds who put Jabuti's smooth shell back together again gain new feathers as their reward. Though Jabuti's shell is 'cracked and patched', his 'song is sweet'. Oddly, Jabuti doesn't possess a trickster's lively intelligence or cleverness, and the story's plot is resolved by the God of Heaven's intervention rather than by the protagonist's cunning. The story begins with the animals that Jabuti has tricked, but they all disappear immediately in favor of a pourquoi tale about how the tortoise got the cracks on his shell. McDermott's illustrations, on the other hand, vibrate with electric colors and patterns. Jabuti's huge eyes and geometric smile, and the interior, brightly colored birds are startling when silhouetted against the pink sky. This title is suitable for ages 4-8.

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Monkey is hungry for the delicious mangoes on the island in the river, but he can't swim! How will he get there? Crocodile offers to carry Monkey across the water on his back, so Monkey hops aboard. Trouble is, Crocodile is hungry too - for Monkey! Will clever Monkey come up with a way to get the mangoes and escape Crocodile's sharp teeth? The Caldecott-winning artist and ace storyteller Gerald McDermott brings the vibrant colours of India to this telling of a classic trickster tale.

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Zomo the rabbit, a trickster from West Africa, wants wisdom. But he must accomplish three apparently impossible tasks before Sky God will give him what he wants. Is he clever enough to do as Sky God asks? 'The tale moves along with the swift concision of a good joke, right down to its satisfying punch line' - "Publishers Weekly". 'Wildly exuberant, full of slapstick and mischief, this version of an enduring Nigerian trickster tale, featuring a clever rabbit, is a storyteller's delight' - "Booklist".

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The issue of baptism has troubled Protestants for centuries. Should infants be baptized before their faith is conscious, or does God command the baptism of babies whose parents have been baptized? Popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a biblical case for infant baptism, exploring its history, meaning, and practice and showing that infant baptism is the most historic Christian way of forming children into the faith. He explains that the church's practice of infant baptism developed straight from the Bible and argues that it must begin with the family and then extend to the church. Baptism is not just an individual profession of faith: it takes a family and a church community to nurture a child into faith over time. McKnight explains infant baptism for readers coming from a tradition that baptizes adults only, and he counters criticisms that fail to consider the role of families in the formation of faith. The book includes a foreword by Todd Hunter and an afterword by Gerald McDermott.

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