Book Review of Anastasis:The Harrowing of Hell

Like I have said before, one of my favorite things about being a writer is being a reader. This book was on my list to buy for my children before the author even approached me about a review. When he asked if I was interested in a review copy, I jumped at the chance. For the record, I was not paid for this review and my only compensation is the book itself and the sweet card from the author's wife and the thoughts expressed in my review are mine alone.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will see that we gave a framed illustration of this artist to our daughter for her name's day. You can see a photo of this further down in this post. I chose not to lead with that photo since ultimately, this post is about this book and I want to keep you focused on this.

This graphic novel is written at a level easily approached by children from about ten years old. The illustrations are not icon-based if you have wondered about that, but a lighter not quite cartoony but approachable sort of drawing. It is full color throughout and beautifully laid out with a flow that keeps the story moving. If you are a subscriber to New Martyr Magazine or following any of the social media accounts of Creative Orthodox, you might be familiar with Michael and his art style. I am admittedly a fan. His goal is to use his gift for art to bring Truth to children and he does it beautifully.

This particular book deals with the very real matter of the Harrowing of Hell and the setting begins before the Resurrection of Christ. Some parents have mentioned they think it might be inappropriate for children but I want to reassure you that it is very delicately done. Michael's art is well balanced and while he does portray Death and Satan with his demons, he is careful to not dwell on those images.  They represent only two out of forty-seven pages.Those particular pages involve little detail and rely on their starkness to express the gravity of the moment. There is a seriousness and a gravity without being graphic in any sense. This does not mean that Michael minimizes the very real presence of the Evil One but rather he wants to remind children of what it is that we have been saved from without frightening them. That might lead you to wonder why he then chose to focus on this topic at all.

It is because we would do a disservice to our children to pretend that the Darkness is not real.  Evil is a presence in our lives and our children are at times acutely aware of it. We need to show them that while there is Darkness, the Light will always be greater. Evil has already been conquered for us. As the mother of eleven children, I want them to always know that when they feel small and afraid and overwhelmed by the real effects of very real evil in the world, that they have already been rescued. All of my children over ten have read this to themselves and my children ten and under have read it with or been read to by an older child or myself. Not even my four year old was frightened and while she is a pretty sturdy child, she is still four. Some of the reason I think that she was able to absorb the book and not be disturbed was the presentation of the images. They are full of meaning but not graphically frightening.

The colors chosen for the scenes of Hades are muted and darker and earthy which make for a beautiful contrast to the Risen Christ and the bright, almost glowing pages. The visual flow of the book supports the moving storyline. The book is not an exact retelling of the Bible but a story account for younger children. The book opens with the entrance of the Prophet Simeon with Isaiah as a guide for him and the reader through the story. It is not unlike Dante or Lewis in the Great Divorce. Several figures of the Bible, all with their distinct personalities interact and present a situation in which they cooperatively try to understand what God's will is and when the Savior will come. There is a good balance of more simple language and more complicated but with some terms explained, such as what is the Bosom of Abraham.

This is an excellent teaching tool and one I will use often with my children. One of the things that I tell my children over and over again until they are probably sick of it, is that Christ trampled down Death by Death. Death is and was a reality that we face but the Death that we will know, after the Ressurection, is a pale imitation of what came before. I want my children to know exactly what it means to say this. It is not a platitude when we comfort someone with these words when they have lost someone they loved, it is real and is powerful and I want my children to know the weight of the words. I want them to know what it means to say it. When my children see Satan, who just a few pages prior was powerful and ominous, crushed by chains and stripped of power, they will remember what this means. Satan has a very limited reach. When they see Christ reaching down into the tombs and dragging weeping Adam and Eve out and raising them up, they will remember what this means. This is the image I come back to again and again because it feels so real to me. I cannot climb up to Jesus. I cannot meet him in the cloud. The best I can do it reach out my arms and allow Him to pull me to Himself.

In the end, this is what it all comes down to, this final scene. We are not saved by any means of our own but simply by allowing Christ to come to us and drag us from the tombs. Fleeing the Evil One, resisting temptation, finding strength in loss, all comes down to that. All we need to do is stretch our arms toward Christ and know that He will reach down and pull us to safety because He has done it before.

My daughter Sophia's name's day gift from us.

These are big thoughts for children to wrestle with, they are big thoughts for me to wrestle with at times, and images often help with framing the discussion. This is why we have icons. This is why a graphic novel is an excellent way of teaching these truths, these events. You can not avoid teaching these uncomfortable things with your children, the existence of Satan, of Hades, of Evil, but discussing these things can be complicated and difficult to find a framework for and this book can establish that framework. I wish I had this book back during Great Lent so we could remind our children of what it means when we sing that Christ has trampled down death by death. For that matter, I wish we would have had it when my father died of cancer after a terrifyingly fast battle. I wish we had it when my father-in-law had died of a sudden massive heart attack. I did not have it then but I do I have it now and we will regularly read it so that my children will not forget that death is destroyed, the curse annulled, and Adam and Eve set free.

Interested in getting your children (or even yourself a copy)? Check out Michael's Amazon Author's page HERE. It retails for $15 here in the states. I have no idea what it sells for in Canada but I am pretty sure it can be bought there since that is where he lives.

It is all about the message...

Writing is a funny thing. Most of us don't get paid for doing it. Those of us who do get paid, mostly don't make a lot of money. There are like a dozen people out there making big bucks and the rest of us in the writing and publishing industry just keep on keeping on despite the fact that the checks that come really aren't that big.

This summer, I was joking with another author at a conference when someone asked about money, "You can make hundreds of dollars. Hundreds."

Why even do it at all? It is all about the message. It is because we want to take the ideas out of our heads and share them with you because, deep down, we believe in the message. We wouldn't do this for any other reason. I think that is why is so important to support other authors and small publishers.

We bought the lovely, gentle little book Every Time I Do My Cross which was written by Presvy Angela Alatzakis. I don't know actually know her or her husband, who is a Greek Orthodox priest. What I do know is that they have sunk their hearts and souls into founding a small little indy publishing company to sell charming books that bring children closer to God. They did not start this business to become rich or famous or powerful. They did it because they believe in the message. I happen to believe in their message as well. We have purchased a few things from them, like the book, and a cute coffee cup that you can sometimes find me sipping from while I am writing on my projects.

They have a goal of producing another book, a lovely little book which focuses on a child and how it is that each child comes into the church. It is called The Story of You and it looks like it is going to be just as sweet and delicate as their first book. Presvy's art is clean, uncomplicated, and very gentle. My own life is loud and messy and I find her book such a respite. I am really looking forward to this next book. The thing is, this book needs some funding and Father Thomas and Presvy Angela just aren't rich in the monetary sense. Really the only way this is going to happen is if they have financial backing.

There are precious few days left in their campaign and they are not funded yet. Think ahead for a minute. If this is a book that you would be happy to see in a bookstore or to order off Amazon, why not think of funding this project as a pre-order. You can receive an autographed first edition as part of their gift to thank you. That's what I did. Maybe you are short on cash right now but hope to have this book available in the future. Donate a couple of dollars and share their link. If only every single person who had ever liked their Facebook page gave a dollar, they would be funded. A little goes a long way when a lot of people give just a little.

If you believe in the message, just like I do, then be part of translating that message to others. Buy a book or a cup or shirt from The Orthodox Children's Press. Contribute to their Kickstarter program by clicking HERE. It is a good message, guys. Very good.

Getting the kitchen ready for Great Lent...

A lovely Facebook friend from St. Seraphim Cathedral asked if I would write a couple of pieces for the church school families. I thought that it might help your families. This is the first of two pieces, the second can be found HERE.

Cheesefare is coming to a close and Clean Week is rapidly approaching. The trepidation, and perhaps even dread, that parents feel is palpable to their children. To help our children enter the fast with the right attitude and to help them learn to properly fast is especially challenging when we ourselves don’t know how to fast properly. I won’t talk about the spiritual aspects of fasting today because there is certainly no lack of books, articles, and resources out there. Today I want to briefly discuss how to fast in a practical and tangible sense.

Our goal in parenthood is to raise well adjusted, moral, happily Orthodox adults. This might sound strange at first but our goal needs to be on the end, not where we are now. Raising children who stay in the Church as adults is a high challenge and there are things we do that make it easier and things that make it harder. Orthodox Christian fasting is so rigorous and so opposed to the message of the modern world that all of us get a little worried as Great Lent approaches. How we act as adults and the behavior that we model sets the tone for our children’s expectations. The more we complain and stomp our feet or get overwhelmed and cry, the more our children hear that this is not a life worth living. We can and should do better than that.

Some is Better than None

This is basically my mantra and I should have it printed on shirts. If you can’t do it all, do what you can, as much as you can. At least this way, something is done and that is better than nothing at all. If your child is supposed to finish the kitchen after school but has a lot of homework, wouldn’t you rather they do part of the task (say, load the dishwasher) than nothing? Absolutely. Some is always better than none. When you must make compromises or you just can’t fast in the way you would like, don’t beat yourself up. Do what you can and start over again tomorrow with a clean slate and a fresh attitude.

Have a Plan

One of the most stressful parts of fasting is just figuring out what you are going to eat at every meal. One of the ways to limit your stress is to make a list of ideas for every meal. Try to come up with a few breakfast items, a few lunch box ideas, a few snack ideas, and a few dinner ideas. If you put a list up with at least two ideas for each, then when you panic, make something from the list. Monotony is boring but boring is better than stressed.

Involve the Children

Children are in control of precious little in their lives and sometimes their frustration can bubble over. Avoiding meal time melt down is critical in helping you maintain your sanity. Get the children involved by tasking them what they want to eat and make it, even if it seems strange. It will reduce meal time fights and it helps take the pressure off you in deciding what to eat. Less stress is worth it, I promise.

Gather Your Supplies

Once you have a basic list of go-to meals and your kids’ menu ideas, make sure you have the ingredients. If you feel like your back is to the wall, you can recycle that same grocery list again and again and you won’t have to put your brain to work.

Stop Looking for Perfection and Start Practicing Patience

Don’t carefully study labels looking for any trace of whey or butter oil or any other item. You will drive yourself crazy and end up feeling worn thin and bitter. Do what you can but don’t make yourself crazy. Being overwhelmed and feeling small isn’t healthy for anyone and it sets a bad example for your children.

If you are looking for more detailed help such as shopping lists, menu planning advice, and loads of recipes, check out my book. You can find it in church stores, major retailers, and from the publisher by clicking the links in my sidebar or clicking HERE.

Review of "Nikola and the Monk"...

I recently received this book for review from the author and illustrator. Nikola and the Monk is Dessi's fourth book for children. I was looking forward to getting my hands on it not only because the author is a friend of mine but because I really need to keep my collection of these saints stories current. I need to have them all. Like I said in my previous post, I have a love/hate relationship with children's literature because there is so much out there that is purely awful to read with children but this one is a joy. 

I always happily receive Dessi's books because they are always beautiful written in her warm, earthy style and the art is always delicate and beautiful but this one will always hold a special place in my heart. This particular book is about a little boy named Nikola who comes to the monk at his hermitage to work out his salvation. The book is in English but draws from Dessi's childhood back in Bulgaria and there are only a few words that should be reviewed before reading and which are found at the back. Nikola refers to the monk as Deda which  means Grandfather and to his black robe as his raso and to the Mother of God, the Theotokos, as Borogodica. From the first time I read this book, I knew it will always be special to me because it reminds me of my son, John, whom we call Jack. This book could be called Jack and the Monk.

My children have the less common experience of growing up in a little mission served by a Brotherhood. Unless we are traveling, and often even when we are traveling, their experience of the Christian services is with monks at the helm. Jack often talks about wanting to be a monk so that he won't have to do the chores that we do at home and instead can pray and read and bake and talk to the bees. This is a lot like Nikola who comes to escape his chores of milking and fetching cucumbers from the garden. I don't think Jack and Nikola are alone in this, I think we all often forget just how much we seek the higher things not for the right reasons but so that we can avoid the lower things. In this book, Deda tells Nikola that, "...doing one's daily work is a prayer, and that each chore that we do and cover in prayer is like building a ladder to heaven." This is a lesson not just for our children, but for ourselves.

As always, the art in Quis Ut Deus books are beautiful and while I cannot say that I know the artist personally, I know a great deal about her from her art. Her art has a misty quality to it with details fading to allow the focus of each illustration to take point of place. It is as if she if wants to highlight a smile here, a wing here, and the eyes over here. My favorite illustrations are the smile on the monk when he plays with the cub, his eyes when the bird is resting on his shoulder, and the icon corner in the family home. I love looking at icon corners and because they are the heart of the home, the are readily familiar to children. I think that children will see the large family gathered around it and they will think of how it feels something like their own families.

That is actually something else to mention, there is a quick but nonetheless lovely mention of large families. I have eleven children and often stories with families with only a couple of children make me children feel as if no one ever has large families. Nikola has three sisters and two brothers while Deda has five brothers and two sisters. Dessi is the mother of six children so she knows what this is like.

I will be putting this book in my basket in the icon corner, but only after it has spent in week in my morning basket. I keep a basket of books and flash cards with which we start each day. I think it will be great way to talk to my younger children who are often "forgetful" about chores. I plan on reading it every day this week and asking my children how they are doing in building their own ladder to heaven and with what chores. I could see it being very useful this lent. If you are looking for ways to use it in your family and in a home school setting, you should head over to my friend, Jennifer's site Illuminated Learning and check out her post.

You can find Dessi's other books also illustrated by Lydia Grace Kadar-Kallen and published by Qui Ut Deus Press from major retailers and on their site including Roses in the Snow (about Roman Catholic saint Elizabeth of Hungary and with my favorite art of all three books) and Saint Felix and the Spider (about St Felix of Nola). You can find Dessi's book The Saint and His Bees (about Irish saint Modomnoc) which was illustrated by Clare Brandenburg on Amazon HERE. It is also available on Kindle for instant download. You might remember Clare's incredibly beautiful book, The Monk Who Grew Prayer. You can find her website HERE. You can read all posts with reviews by clicking HERE.

Review of "In the Candle's Glow"...

Today I want to tell you about the new children's book from Ancient Faith, In the Candle's Glow. I have a love/hate relationship with children's literature. Often is is sappy and trite and has conflicting ideas. I am one of the few parents out there who have literally thrown away a copy of  The Rainbow Fish and not looked back. I think that proper children's books should be beautiful and thought provoking and well written. That doesn't mean I think that I think they need to talk over the heads of the children that they address but rather that they respect the developing person they are fast becoming without rushing it. It is a pretty tall order, I admit. But there are some books that so perfectly fit my rigid ideal of a book that they become fast favorites around here; ones that will stand the test of time and ones which I will not dread seeing my children pull off the shelf every night for eighty-seven in a row. This is one such book.

I have a great job. I get to think words and write them down and get paid for it. Because I have sold some of the words I have written down, it gives me the brilliant opportunity to read other words other people have written down. Sometimes books come in the mail and I get to read them solely because I have written words of my own. This is fantastic. Now, I don't get free copies of all the books that I want, but this was a free review copy given to me. I literally jumped at the chance because it is published by my publisher and I had the chance to see some of the art before the book was released. I knew as soon as I saw the cover, that I wanted that this book. I don't get a kick back and I am not being paid for my review. What I get is a free copy of the book to drool over.

French artist Amandine Wanert produced the gorgeous images in this book and there are really two present styles of art. There are bright, light, outdoor scenes of a charming nun, of bees flying through meadows, and of honeycomb caps. They are brightly colored without being gaudy, light without lacking substance. Then there are the richer scenes within the church. They are dark without being heavy, and serious without being severe, and so evocative. Before I knew what the book was about, the art drew me in, and it did the same for my children the day that it arrived. I watched as all my children squeezed onto the sofa to watch as one of the younger teens flipped through the book.

But the book isn't just a pretty face, Elizabeth Crispina Johnson has created an edifying and evocative story which unfolds page by page. The story is about both the journey of a candle and of a little girl. The story begins with the journey of the candle from the bees, to the hive, to the wax, to the nun who produced the candles the church. The little girl moves from playing outside to entering the church and lighting the candle to say her prayers. In the story, Felicia watches her prayers swirl around the candle's flame. She says more prayers and watches more prayers swirl around. Ultimately a slight breeze blows in from the window and extinguishes her candle and she says, "Amen," At that moment her prayers float up to Heaven with the tiny wisp of smoke. The book shows the prayers floating up to the icon of Christ the Teacher. It is so sweet and so innocent and such a pleasure to read to children.

This will be an excellent teaching tool for my family. I have a lot of children and I have found that lighting candles is a thrilling experience for them but teaching them that they are prayers is a critical aspect of participating in the services. Often my children need to be prompted and asked directly for whom or what they want to pray when they ask to light candles. We spend twenty dollars every weekend on candles (between Vigil and Liturgy) and I am pretty certain that many of those candles are lit by my four youngest, all girls, who simply want to stare at the glow in the darkness. I plan on reading this on Fridays and then packing it up for church for the littlest of my children. Toddlers and preschoolers, and sometime those slightly older, have a difficult time sitting still. They often need little books and things and I keep a church basket with saints books and other books appropriate for church as well as scarves for the girls and our family's commemoration book. Another item I keep in the basket is A Child's Guide to the Divine Liturgy. It features illustrations which help my non-readers know what is happening and understand the service structure along with brief explanations that are not so verbose that it keeps little heads turned downwards towards to the book rather than upwards at the service.

In the Candle's Glow is available from Ancient Faith HERE as well as other major retailers and perhaps even your own church book shop (if not, ask for it). It retails for $19.95. A Child's Guide to the Divine Liturgy is available HERE and if it's not in your church shop, ask for it. It also retails for $19.95. I received the former as a free review copy but the latter I paid for myself and I have two copies in my church basket. 

I am going to be talking about the books in church basket as well as the icon corner basket in my house, that is basket that I keep under the table in icon corner so that my children can read them at quiet times. If you Insta, and I love Insta, drop by and see photos of my kids reading these and other great books. You can find me HERE. If you don't Insta, you can scroll through all my photos from my blog without leaving the site. You can read all posts with reviews by clicking HERE.

What do you keep in your church basket?

What are your favorite books for your children?

Projects, progress, and purpose...

I have been thinking a lot lately about the things that I could be writing and the things that I should be writing. Maybe these are the same and maybe they are not? I don't know. At any rate, it is month end and also quarter end so it happens to be the time when I look at my royalties. I know that in the end, sales and royalties are not necessarily indicators of the worth of my writing. I mean, really, if it were, those super crappy best sellers about angsty teen vampires or abusive May-December romance would not the tripe that they are and Homer would be in paperback at every newsstand. But since writing is my job and this is the metric I have, there it goes into play. When I negotiate with a website to produce content for a series, those sales and then the landing rate for other articles are how I am evaluated. 

I switched blogs despite having a solid following and some really amazing readers, some of whom turned into amazing friends despite the distance of hundreds, sometimes thousands, and even continents of distance away. I switched because I wanted to remind myself that the blog is for me. It is not about metrics. It is about putting words to the thoughts and then putting them down. Maybe they click with someone and maybe they don't but it gives me the space to write things and keep my wheels turning so I am working with a well maintained machine when it comes time to write on contract work.

Speaking of that lucrative contract work, I have been putting it off because I sold one book and then I have been working on turning some other ideas into another one. When I say lucrative, you should know that is tongue in cheek. My husband and I have a running joke with an old friend about his sister-in-law's freelance writing and mine. It brings in hundreds of dollars, hundreds. Think about that for a second. I am not an A-list pulp fiction writer buying a second home. I am just me and happy with one real Benjamin (my husband, by the way). When I think about the time I am spending working on potential projects it can be a bit frustrating because I think about the quicker return on work when writing for smaller publications. There is a big downside to it and it means crafting their voice and using their SEO criteria. My voice is muted. It is there but it is not exactly the same. Not that writing for sale, even if I am going to click publish or upload an eBook, is without some voice and audience considerations.It is just that it is about the volume of my voice in the final product and given that I am an author, frankly I like the sound of my own voice. That is how we work.

So I am getting back to regular blogging and I am putting few limitations on it right now so that I can get my machine humming again. It will put me in a better position for deciding what project I am going to pull out, put on, and run with. I have some ideas and they need a little cultivation right now. We had a difficult summer with some stresses that I allowed to eat into my writing and knitting time and that means that I was turning down my own voice. Putting limits on somethings and some people will give me the space I need right now to find my balance again. I think I will then figure out what I want to write and how to do it.