Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture

The Washington Post

The book's real glory is the art: a fabulous selection of paintings from the world great galleries that includes Rembrandt's Jeremiah, Raphael's Ezekiel and Marc Chagall's Isaiah. — Elizabeth Ward

Publishers Weekly

Marianna Mayer adds to her list of picture book reference works about biblical themes with the beautifully designed Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture. Elegantly printed with red and gold accents, the text reviews the contributions of the prophets, from Moses to Elijah and Elisha, from Amos to Malachi. As in past volumes, Mayer pairs her writing with masterpieces of European art, so that insets and single pages introduce works by Rembrandt, Renaissance paintings, illuminated Bibles, Byzantine mosaics and more. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

As much an art work as a book, this sumptuous volume provides a history and context for the lives of the Hebrew prophets. Beginning with Moses and continuing through the familiar and lesser-known N'vi'im (singular: Navi), we meet the "literary" or "major" prophets as well as the twelve "minor" prophets and learn of their missions, triumphs and tribulations. Towering figures from all walks of life, these courageous men (neither Miriam nor Deborah is included) were compelled to preach their divinely inspired messages and often paid the most severe price for their unpopular prophecies. Reading the book is a delight, with its gold covers and pages of text superimposed on a background of Hebrew text. It is loaded with magnificent paintings from the finest collections and has a medieval feel, with the gilt Hebrew-letter word Navi sprinkled (rather arbitrarily, I'm afraid) throughout its pages. This is a beautiful coffee table or gift book, but makes good reading for anyone. 2003, Phyllis Fogelman/Penguin Putnam, Ages 12 up.
—Judy Chernak

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-Mayer gives what biographical details are known about each of the major and minor prophets, including Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and Samuel. Context, the main points of the prophet's message, and a quotation or two complete each entry. There are some beautiful portraits here, by well- and little-known artists. Yet the thinness of the narrative, the relative lack of drama in the color paintings, and the distance of the subjects from readers combine to make this work less impressive than the author's other religion/art books. Several pages have errors (from "eminent" for "imminent" to dangling modifiers). Audience confusion is also possible: the text content and style are more advanced than the picture-book format signals. Both historical and "literary" prophets are significant contributors to Western culture, and this book may help stem the tide of biblical illiteracy, but it is a minor title in the Mayer canon.-Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.