Mary: The Mother of Jesus

by Tomie dePaola

A retelling of the story of Mary is divided into fifteen lavishly illustrated sections that cover her childhood, betrothal to Joseph, visitation by the angel Gabriel, birth of Jesus, and witness to her son's ministry.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Religion, Christian, Catholic, Christmas, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely look at Mary's life through dePaola's eyes. Told from the Immaculate Conception to Mary's queendom in heaven, this is obviously a Roman Catholic perspective (it's by Tomie dePaola after all), but there's plenty to appreciate for Christians of other traditions, too. The story is told in vignettes, so any wary readers can easily skip to the annunciation and end with Pentecost, avoiding the other scenes. A lovely book about Mary (and the life of Christ) that's not Christmassy.

[Siobhain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge Tomie dePaola fan! I love that Mary, the Mother of Jesus includes all of the famous Marian feast days as well as events in the life of Mary which are not official feast days in the Church. Each story is accompanied by illustrations in Tomie dePaola's lovely, unique style.

Whenever I remember that we own this book, I think how wonderful it would be to pull it out and read the pages related to the feast days of Mary on the appropriate date. Unfortunately, I rarely remember in spite of using various techniques to remind me. I have thought of a new reminder system for myself so hopefully I will remember in the coming year.

I am surprised that I am not giving this book 5 stars, but there were two drawbacks for me. First of all, I do not like that in the retelling of the Wedding Feast at Cana, Mr. dePaola has Jesus address his mother as "Mother," when the Biblical text uses the term "Woman." The term "woman" in this instance is jolting to the modern ear, but all the more reason to use it so that children are not surprised when they hear this reading at Mass or read it for themselves in the Bible.

My second complaint is that none of the illustrations of Mary have her smiling. Surely she smiled sometimes. Overall, I love the illustrations, but I would personally prefer it if she smiled while holding the baby Jesus or when she greeted Elizabeth.

I recommend this to any Catholic family with young to elementary-aged children. In drawing from scripture, legend, and tradition, Tomie dePaola fills out the stories from the life of Our Lady, helping her to become more alive in the mind. In addition this book would be a helpful aid for meditating on the rosary.

[Allie]

This is a classic piece of my Catholic upbringing. My mom and I loved Tomie dePaola so this was a natural fit for us to read together. Now reading it again, I remember all of the illustrations so vividly! Of course the stories I would hear again and again, but they would always be illustrated in my mind with these pictures. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a gentle piece of Catholic lore.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and illustrated story of Mary's life.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma and I LOVED reading this book together. Our religious tradition does not have many (any?) legends about Mary, so many of these stories (The Presentation of the Child Mary at the Temple, The Coming of the Holy Spirit, Mary is Taken to Heaven, and The Queen of Heaven) were unfamiliar to us. TdP sweetly tells each one with his classic, child-like but still serious (sometimes severe) style of illustration. It was a beautiful book, one I would like to own.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I am not Catholic, it was interesting to hear a few of the stories they believe about her early life and her death.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely the Catholic take on the story of Mary, and author Tomie dePaola is completely upfront about that right from the start. Frankly, Protestant families might want to steer clear of this book, because many of the stories in it about Mary are taken not from the Bible, but rather from Catholic tradition, and in some cases would be considered by Protestants as tantamount to blasphemy.

This telling of the life of Mary,which draws from accounts both historical and legendary, is a better book than I expected. Tomie dePaola has sensitively painted the portrait of a real woman who faced many difficulties and whose heart, ultimately, was pierced by the cruel death of her son. I don't know of an illustrator in the world more deeply capable of artistically rendering Mary's story than Tomie dePaola, and he has called upon all of the classic beauty of his art skills in the creation of this book. Considering his long family history in Catholicism, as well as his close literary ties to the religion (in 1983 he received the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal in recognition of his body of work as a children's author), Tomie dePaola must have felt a fair amount of pressure to get this right, and I think that he has done so.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very happy with this book, it is illustrated in the beautiful, original style of Tomie dePaola and the story is simply written but full of information. I'm so glad that Elizabeth and Simeon are mentioned during the time of Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God.

Luke 2:34-35 Living Bible (TLB)

34-35 Simeon blessed them but then said to Mary, “A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel, and this to their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy of many others. And the deepest thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.”

They also added The Magnificat prayer from Luke 1:46–55. And they added when Mary prayed with the Apostles as read in Acts of the Apostles 1:12-14.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and symbolically rich account of the life of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Honored by Jesus’s disciples and the Church, de Paola draws on biblical accounts and tradition. Nice Advent and Lent book.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of the time I'm not a fan of Tomie's art style, but it really works here. I enjoy this. Mary has many traditions in this world and Tomie focuses on Mary. She had an auspicious birth as well. This book quickly goes into the Christmas story and glosses over much to show Jesus's death and Mary's sorrow. I've never heard this, but Tomie finishes the story with Mary being laid in a tomb and a disciple opening the tomb after and she was gone. Her body was taken to heaven as the Queen of heaven. I like that idea. I wish Tomie had given us more personality of Mary. She doesn't even exist here. She isn't a character but a story idea. She is so bland. It would be nice to have a personality to go with the person. Instead of this idea of being docile, I think she would be a spit fire. People accusing her of being unfaithful and she's spit at them and tell them she was loyal to her husband. A woman who wouldn't back down. Anyway.

This story is long and not for beginners. It's a great story to read for Christmas if you are Christian.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presents a series of vignettes to tell the story of the life of Mary, Mother of Jesus, based on the Bible, legend and tradition. They are accompanied by illustrations in Tomie dePaola's signature style. A very nice collection.

[Benjamin Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and retelling of the life of Mary of Nazareth.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book was a Catholic, so he used legend, and tradition, and some Scripture to depict Mary the mother of Jesus. The short individual stories are: The Presentation of the Child Mary at the Temple; The Betrothal of Joseph and Mary; The Annunciation; The Visitation; The Birth of Jesus; The Presentation of the Boy Jesus in the Temple; The Adoration of the Magi; The Flight Into Egypt; The Boy Jesus in the Temple; The Marriage at Cana; The Ministry; Mary's Solitude; The Coming of the Holy Spirit; Mary is Taken to Heaven. The last story especially is non-scriptural and, therefore, legend. Beautifully illustrated.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to the unit on Mary which I planned for this month of May. I would recommend this book for grades k-4. There is a great video on Vimeo, appropriate for Catholic School students (https://vimeo.com/416030245) which includes a read-aloud of Mary, as well as a prayer and song in honor of Mary.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is rather formal, almost Biblical. I felt it was a tad too stilted for my five year old. For an older child, it would be fine.

The pictures are enchanting, though a little "church-like". I like that Mary is depicted with dark hair and olive skin.

[Pita-eater · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story about Mary explicitly for Catholic children. Being Protestant, I couldn't shake the feeling: "but what about Jesus?" while reading this. I guess I should have known better. Aside from the text, the illustrations are lovely and gentle.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

includes scripture and parts of liturgy and helpful glimpses of different bits of her life. simple text and usual Tomie DePaola pictures.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary is more strong-quiet-powerful here than in other depiction. She's browner than usual too, two interpretations I appreciated in Tomie dePaola's look at the BVM.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful depiction of Mary, respectful without being saccharine and overly sentimental.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love love.

Can't believe I found a copy of this book.