God Inside of Me
(Click to buy book on-line)

Author:  Della Reese, Yvonne Buchanan (Illustrator)
Publisher:  Hyperion Books for Children
Date Published:  March 1999
Format:  Trade Cloth

Review

Grades 1 to 4
Reese, a celebrity from the TV show Touched by an Angel, has spun a story that, despite its wonderfully oral voice, is long-winded and lacks child appeal. Kenisha knows that there's a piece of God in her, but it takes a lesson from her doll to see that there's also "...good in everyone, even those who get on our nerves." The girl's talking toys make up the main cast of characters and are not convincing. Also, Kenisha slips too often into an adult voice, revealing the storyteller's edifying intentions.

The pastel and warm-toned watercolor illustrations are full of life and movement, but the human features are often so distorted that the girl and her brother not only look like different people on each page, but also appear elderly. Some schools or libraries may have an adult demand for this kind of Sunday-school story, but otherwise it holds little use. - Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.