Mother Teresa FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Consummate biographer for children Demi (Muhammad; The Dalai Lama) turns her pen and paints to the world-renowned nun who committed her life to serving the poorest of the poor in God's name. In her clear, concise style, Demi chronicles how young Agnes Bojaxhiu left her family in Albania when she was called to her vocation at a tender age and that she took the name Teresa after the patron saint of missionaries. Mother Teresa's subsequent work in India and around the globe treating the sick, homeless, dying and unloved earned her recognition and accolades, though "always one to practice deep humility, Mother Teresa was reluctant to be singled out and given such honors." Demi crafts a solid portrait of a selfless and devoutly faithful woman and her trust in Divine Providence. However, given the nun's many accomplishments, Demi resorts to making lists of Mother Teresa's endeavors, her many awards and honors, and even the complicated, though fascinating, requirements for the woman to attain sainthood in the Catholic Church. (In 2003, the pope beatified her, which is a key step in the process.) The illustrations, like their subject, emit a humble tone, offering a glimpse of devastatingly impoverished communities and the people suffering in them. Images of Mother Teresa tending to a leper, cradling a baby or jumping rope with a child speak volumes about the grace and kindness she shared with the world. Prayers and writings of Mother Teresa appear throughout, and an official blessing from the pope adorns the back cover, helping to make this a fine celebration of her life. Ages 7-10. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 2-5-This informative and eloquent biography highlights the key moments in the life of the diminutive but determined nun and the ongoing quest to have her canonized. In clear, readable prose and richly colored paint-and-ink illustrations adorned with decorative gold-leaf borders, Demi conveys Mother Teresa's innate goodness and religious devotion while recounting the story of her inspiring accomplishments on behalf of the "poorest of the poor." The narrative focuses on Mother Teresa's experiences coming to the aid of countless unfortunate, diseased, orphaned, and forgotten citizens around the world; describes the far-reaching work of her order, the Missionaries of Charity; and concludes with the many humanitarian honors and awards bestowed upon her. Every element of this lovely book reflects Mother Teresa's simple message of service, including the endpapers, which feature her words of wisdom enclosed in frames of kneeling Missionaries of Charity in their trademark white-and-blue saris. An elegantly executed title.-Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
From the kneeling supplicant on the front cover, surrounded by apostolic figures within an ornate cross, to the author's Papal blessing on the back, this is the most pious yet of Demi's profiles of our greatest spiritual touchstones. In a text that mixes specific biographical details with poems, prayers, and biblical passages, she follows Mother Teresa from childhood in what was then Yugoslavia to the inner call that sent her into a religious order in India. (She took her name from St. Teresa of Lisieux, "about whom it was said she did no great things-only small things with great love.") Then the "call within a call" turned her from teaching to working with and for the poorest for the rest of her life. Demi caps her work with a long list of Mother Teresa's international honors and a precis of current efforts to secure her sainthood that are likely to lose younger readers. And she illustrates with golden-framed art that, for all its characteristic grandeur and delicacy, fails to capture the squalor of the slums in which she worked, or to give immediacy to her day to day contact with the diseased and desperate. But her faith, her message, and the force of her personality come through with superb clarity. (bibliography, map) (Picture book/biography. 9-12)
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