The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo
With his electric illustration style and eye for emotionally charged moments, Hendrix…has a flair for nonfiction picture books about people who have fought for their noble ideals during brutal historical crises. Now he's taken on the life of Jesus, emphasizing his subject's righteous magic and zeal for healing and social justice…[A] powerfully told and visually dazzling book…The art throughout has an elemental, rough-hewn beauty that evokes its subject's magnetism in a refreshing way.
Booklist
"...These miracles give Hendrix the opportunity to showcase his inventive artwork, which forms letters from birds and butterflies and uses strong graphic elements to capture the wonder of Jesus’ life... a visually exciting and fresh take on the age-old story"
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Hendrix's retelling of the three years of Jesus' public ministry is clearly an authentic labor of love from the pen and brush of a true believer..."
Booklist
"...These miracles give Hendrix the opportunity to showcase his inventive artwork, which forms letters from birds and butterflies and uses strong graphic elements to capture the wonder of Jesus’ life... a visually exciting and fresh take on the age-old story"
School Library Journal
03/01/2016
K-Gr 3—Through selected Gospel stories and bold pen-and-ink illustrations, Hendrix portrays the miraculous life of Jesus in this unique retelling. Employing simple, child-friendly language, the author reveals how Jesus "was like none who had lived before" and how his words "made things happen." Hendrix demonstrates how, while performing a series of miracles including healing the sick, feeding thousands with a meager supply of loaves and fishes, calming the stormy seas, and walking on water, Jesus gathered crowds of followers and attracted enemies, who didn't approve of the adulation he garnered. Although Jesus was ultimately betrayed and sent to die, in the end, he was able to perform "one last glorious miracle." Hendrix embeds hand-lettering into his drawings, and the design and format of the spreads call to mind modern graphic novels. Despite the contemporary feel of the artwork and language, the illustrations are also replete with historically accurate details of life in biblical times. The doubt and fear of the disciples as they cross the sea with Jesus in a tiny boat is evident in a striking spread dominated by the rain-swept ocean and accompanied by the question "Don't you care if we die?" VERDICT Hendrix eloquently conveys the life-changing power of faith in this distinctive snapshot of the life and teachings of Jesus, providing an appealing introduction to more complete collections of Bible stories.—Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston
Kirkus Reviews
2015-12-22
Some of Jesus' message is here, but the focus is on selected miracles and the wonder thereof. An "unusual Man" comes to "a dry and dusty land" needing "the kind of living water that would last forever." When he speaks, his words burst into teeming flights of butterflies, lightning bolts, monumental wood and stone letters, or page-filling arrays of exclamatory display type. Again and again as disciples and others look on with awed or worried expressions, this "Miracle Man"—a skinny, light-brown, often smiling figure with a ragged black beard in the carefully detailed illustrations—works wonders. He heals the sick, walks on water, feeds the multitude from a small basket of loaves and fishes, and more. At last he announces his betrayal, then dies to rise again, amid a flutter of butterflies. (Judas only points from a distance, and Jesus is seen dragging his cross but not actually on it.) Hendrix draws from various New Testament books and versions but retells each miracle in his own words. In the interest of brevity he leaves out the Marys and other significant figures, noting this in the afterword. Katherine Paterson offers younger children a fuller version of the oft-told story in The Light of the World (2008), but the Jesus in François Roca's pictures is less approachable than that in Hendrix's. Brief of text but memorably illustrated. (Picture book/religion. 5-9)
