Official Review: Zacchaeus by Elisient Maeve Vernon

[Juliana_Isabella]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Zacchaeus" by Elisient Maeve Vernon.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Zacchaeus by Elisient Maeve Vernon is a children’s book about the biblical character Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus has spent his life doing bad things, including robbing people who have very little to begin with. When Zacchaeus hears that Jesus is coming to town, he knows that he needs to see if Jesus is everything that people say he is. Vernon tells Zacchaeus’s story in rhyme, explaining how his meeting with Jesus changes his life.

I liked the fun way that Vernon made an ancient Bible story more accessible for kids. I could easily see a parent reading the rhyming lines out loud to their kids. Also, the vocabulary is appropriate for children but still incorporates a few more challenging words that parents could explain.

My only real complaint about this book is that I didn’t feel the illustrations added as much to the story as they could have. I appreciated how Hammond, the illustrator, gave the background characters vibrant, emotional faces that communicated their displeasure with Zacchaeus. However, I didn’t feel like Zacchaeus or Jesus displayed visible emotions in the same way. Zacchaeus is facing away from the reader in many of the pictures, and Jesus seems to have the same facial expression throughout the book.

Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the fun rhymes, but I think the illustrations could use some editing to make Zacchaeus and Jesus more relatable characters. I only found a couple of errors, so the book generally feels very professional.

I would recommend this book to parents of children ages five to seven. I think this book is best suited for parents who like to read with their kids, as they could discuss the story together and help their kids with any challenging words. If you want your kid to become more familiar with the story of Zacchaeus, this could be a fun way to teach them.

******
Zacchaeus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Wuoketch]

A great children's book that I would consider for my daughter. Nice review.

[LinaJan]

I usually like children's stories and the morale of this one sounds to be a worthy deed, but the religious connotation is not something I could easily overcome :/

Thank you for such a thorough review!

[Elvis Best]

This book could be a fun way for parents to teach kids about the story of Zacchaeus. Thanks for a great review.

[Aftab Yunis]

I would love to read this book. I love to share biblical stories with kids. I guess this easy this rhyming version would contribute a lot in children's understanding to help them to know the Zacchaeus encounter with Jesus.

[Topsey]

A handy book to help explain a bible story to children! Short books like these are great to teach children about the bible but also morals. Thanks for the insightful review.

[blancaelizondo214]

Zaccaheus doing bad things, and robbing people, and Moses killing the Egyptian cuz mistreating Israelis etc, etc, we have in Jesus 2 commands Love Your Neighbor As Yourself , and love God, no wonder why zaccheous wanted to hear Jesus who changed his life .