Religion

October 19, 2015
Outstanding Dutch comics artist de Heer follows her previous books in the Discovery series on philosophy and science with this lively, intelligent survey of the world’s major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Believing that religion should be taken seriously but not fanatically, de Heer maintains a calm and respectful attitude throughout as she describes the history of each religion and lists its major written texts, practices, and conflicts. She also interjects self-deprecating personal anecdotes from her own spiritual quest. Meanwhile, an impish little cartoon character who represents de Heer dances on eggshells as she anticipates queries and objections from less-tolerant members of one faith or another. She concludes that shared human needs make the religions more fundamentally similar than different. Though the results of her investigation may not be especially profound, the physical product still is wonderful; she has produced a beautiful little book, with clever design, witty cartooning, and splendid use of color.

Starred review from November 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-With this volume that winningly combines her personal reflections with general information on five world religions, de Heer continues her series (previous titles have taken on philosophy and science). She depicts herself as the narrator of this discourse and includes her personal experience with religion. Both of her parents were Christian ministers, and she herself studied theology and has practiced a few different religions in her life. The author provides simple but straightforward synopses of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism and considers points of difficulty for each, such as how each faith measures up on a feminist ruler. Her parents, her husband, and a chorus of observers appear, too, to interject other information, thoughts, and points of view. De Heer is respectful and makes it clear that she feels a connection to the spiritual, though she currently does not follow any organized religion. The cartoon art incorporates religious iconography where appropriate. VERDICT A thought-provoking work for teens and adults who are curious about religion and perhaps ready to give some thought to their own beliefs.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
De Heer's third summary of a field of knowledge (after Philosophy, 2012, and Science, 2013) opens on a personal note. She's the daughter and granddaughter of ministers and a student of theology, she discloses, so religion is really her turf. Yet it's such a touchy subject that making a comic book about it has her feeling she's walking on eggshells. And, sure enough, her cartoon avatar's foot breaches the shell of a ginormous egg fairly regularly as she covers the founders, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism as well as atheists and fundamentalists, always at loggerheads yet not dissimilar. Once again, de Heer's presentation, in colorful widescreen panels and single-page compositions, gives an impression of spaciousness despite the wordiness endemic to the book's expository, didactic manner. Although the English translation from the original Dutch commits some distracting idiomatic errors, Religion is a worthy companion to its predecessors, and will serve as a tidy introduction to beginning students of religious studies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)