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Jump to navigationJump to searchIn The Beginning by Jan Pienkowski and David Walser (view source)
Revision as of 13:30, 29 December 2010
, 13:30, 29 December 2010no edit summary
[[Category:Jan Pienkowski]]
[[Category:David Walser]]
{{comment
|name=Rosemary Morton Jack
|verb= said
|comment=The new PIenkowski book is everything wonderful that your reviewer Ruth Ng says but I cannot agree with her dislike of the KIng James text. If her pre school daughter is unable to read or follow it, let her glory in the wonderfully colourful and amusing illustrations alone. This book is not 'Meg and Mog', and cannot be expected to fulfill the same purpose. Let Pienkowski's illustrations stand alone for the very young until they grow old enough to appreciate the poetry and language: then the fortunate child will realise that here is a book for life, not simply for the nursery.
It's hardly surprising if Ruth Ng's daughter isn't ready for some of the ancient language. A child in the company of an adult can look at the pictures and hear the text, albeit altered or abridged if need be, but if the adult is clever enough to introduce occasional gems, such as 'beguile', (a word Ruth Ng singles out for praise) and thus widen the child's vocabulary by stealth, here is an opportunity not to be missed. The vibrant and descriptive pictures are laugh-out-loud witty with enough information and entertainment value in themselves. What would be the point of reducing the text to a simple, modern idium when there are already easy-to-read versions available? Children respond to challenges and love new words, especially if they are strange and rarely used.
Hoorah for the combined talents of David Walser and Jan Pienkowski and for their courage and insistance (if such were needed) for sticking to the King James Version and presenting children and adults with something to enjoy together, as old as the hills but as fresh as paint.
Rosemary Morton Jack
}}
