...A time to kill?

To Every Thing There is A Season
By: Leo & Diane Dillon
Picture book ages 9-12
Rating: 3/5

Summary: An inspirational book using Multicultural drawings from around the world to give the basic idea that there is a time for everything, and that it is just part of life!

Opinion: First of all, let me just say that the illustrations in this book are amazing. Seriously. In the back it gives a summary of the drawings from every page, which are from a different part of the world. They mostly depict families or life-altering events, from Ireland to Egypt to Japan and to Europe. Every page is different and can teach children a ton about different countries and their customs. The pictures are sort of mural-like and were created in many different techniques: ink, acrylic paint, watercolor, etc. The only problem for me is that the words are taken from the book of Ecclesiastes, which has a religious connotation to it that I would probably not like to delve into. The idea of the book is fabulous, "to every thing there is a season" but some of the words shock me. The word heaven is used, followed by, "a time to kill, and a time to heal" and the picture is a bit disturbing, primal almost. I think its a mature topic, especially for a picture book. Its good to talk about things like war, death, etc. if need be but I'm not sure I would go about it this way. Maybe I need to get over myself and tackle these types of issues, I don't know. There are also some intricate and/or religious words that even I don't know the meaning of, let alone a 2nd or 3rd grader.

Curriculum connection: If I were solely going off of the pictures, this book is awesome. It could be done in a social studies class, a multicultural unit, a time to educate them on art from around the world, even. The theme of the book is a good one, which suggests that there is a time for everything good and bad, so I could have a discussion on that as well. If I were in the mood to tackle the issue of religion, I would definitely take the time to explain what the book of Ecclesiastes is and maybe talk about spirituality, but that is just getting a little too controversial for me!