Ladder of Angels: Stories from the Bible Illustrated by Children of the World

by Madeleine L'Engle

Sixty-five full-color illustrations, chosen from the “Children of the World Illustrate the Old Testament” contest and subsequent exhibition, combine with evocative retellings of Old Testament stories by Madeleine L’Engle to create a reading experience to be cherished by all people – young and old.

Genres: Childrens, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian, Christianity

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

Reviews

[Aaron White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's drawings often threaten to become immersed in cutesy sentimentality, but in this book they are not, especially when paired with L'Engle's commentary on the Old Testament texts. This is a family-appropriate work (well, as appropriate as the Biblical text can be, dealing as it does with sex and death and God) that does not condescend but rather challenges.

[Abbie Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly lovely were the illustrations of some of the more abstract passages of the Old Testament. We so often underestimate the vision and insight of children.

L’Engel’s reimagining of the text was also quite fun, I only wished for more consistency between the passages she truly made her own and the ones she simply paraphrased.

[Martha Elias Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children’s illustrations are wonderful! Many of the stories are well-told. The biblical interpretation is a bit conservative/dated and unuanced in parts.

[Deb Handrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book of poetry and art from around the world. So happy to have this book on my shelf.