The story of Joseph and his coat of many colors is a favorite Bible story—full of dramatic events and enduring lessons in love and faith.
The tale of the eleven brothers who sell their favored brother into slavery is a story about envy, greed, and power, but also a story about love, compassion, and forgiveness. Above all, it is a story about the power and mercy of God as he draws a bitterly divided family back together and in the process changes the course of nations.
In this spectacular retelling, Brian Wildsmith has created sweeping illustrations rich with brilliant colors and fascinating details, vividly depicting the vast deserts and the lavish architecture of ancient Egypt. With great heart and great imagination, Wildsmith brings the story of Joseph to life for a new generation of readers.
Publishers Weekly
Wildsmith’s retelling is engaging and will likely draw children into this ancient tale of sibling rivalry, jealousy and God’s love.
Parade Magazine
A biblical children’s book that tells its story without belaboring its lessons is always pleasant to find, and Brian Wildsmith’s Joseph is an outstanding example. Its colorfully detailed paintings of ancient Egypt manage to be imaginative and realistic at the same time. . . . The tale has never been more beautifully presented.
Washington Post Book World
Brian Wildsmith stands high among the international grandmasters of children’s books, and his new version of the Joseph story possesses real majesty, depicting with equal wonder the vast emptiness of the desert and the multihued wall paintings and overwhelming architecture of Egypt. . . . The Christmas season lasts until Twelfth Night, and a reading of this superb picture book would be an ideal way to conclude the holiday festivities.
Booklist
Well told and particularly handsome. Wildsmith’s ink-and-watercolor artwork has never seemed more polished, his colorings more carefully shaded.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
The biblical Joseph has been basking in Broadway notoriety for some time, but this gorgeous piece of bookmaking may rightly enjoy some basking of its own. Shimmering watercolors with fine pen detailing illumine every exquisite, double-page spread while gold-rimmed pages exude the aura of Egyptian opulence and the story’s royal overtones.
Christian Library Journal
Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, Great Britain’s highest honor for picture books, Wildsmith captures the desert locale perfectly through the use of warm colors, even to the endpapers with their muted sunset tones and the hieroglyphics for Joseph’s name, while showing the beauty of Ancient Egypt as it must have been not with the artwork worn away from the centuries.
34 pages; dimensions (in inches): 9.5 x 12; Ages 5-10; full-color illustrations throughout
