Name of Book:   Love Is…

Author:   The Apostle Paul

Illustrator:   Wendy Anderson Halperin

Publisher :   Aladdin Paperbacks

Audience:    All ages

Summary:  The apostle Paul attempted to define the word “love” for the followers of Christ living in the Greek city of Corinth in 56 A.D.  This book weds gorgeous, contemporary illustrations to Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 13 (4 – 8a) reinforcing their essential message – that the love we express is best defined by our attitudes and actions.

Literary elements at work in the story:  This is a memorable, thought-provoking picture book.  The illustrations on each page are in a collage style with the right-hand side of the book illustrating the words of the text and the left-hand side showing the exact opposite.  It is worth taking time to analyze each of the point and counterpoint illustrations on each page.  This book proves the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability:   Diversity is the key word in the illustrations.  We see black people and white people, women and men, girls and boys, Oriental, African, Indian, and American people, poor people and rich people, old people and young people, people with service dogs and in wheelchairs, even dogs and pigs.  In short, all creatures that need love are represented in this book.

Scripture:  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  I Corinthians 13:2
Theology:  Faith, hope, and love will last; and the greatest of these is love.

Faith Talk Questions:  I would spend time looking closely at each set of pictures and tell the story that they depict from the standpoint of the text that is illustrated.  The images on each page provide five – ten short stories that are worth studying, interpreting, and telling.

Love Is by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.