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David John
Angemeldet seit:
24.04.2022
Beiträge: 277
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Several things make this book appealing for 6-to-8-year-olds. First, the theme of St. Patrick's life is one that many children in this age group will be interested in simply because the story behind St. Patrick's Day is not widely known, apart from the bare fact that it is about some guy named St. Patrick. Kids will welcome this brief biography of Patrick as an explanation of why everyone is wearing green and decorating with shamrocks on March 17th (though it won't explain the excessive drinking of green beer...).
Second, the episodes from Patrick's life that dePaola recounts are pithy and interesting. For example, he tells of how Patrick's chariot driver once heard that a wicked king planned to kill Patrick. Wanting to protect Patrick, the driver feigned tiredness and asked Patrick to drive the chariot in his place. Because of this switch the wicked king confused the chariot driver for Patrick and had the driver killed instead of Patrick.
Also, the legends about ***** Patrick that dePaola appends to the biography are charming. For example, one legend tells of how Patrick was trying to explain the Trinity--the Christian notion of one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--to some people one day and noticed a shamrock growing at his feet. As the legend goes, he picked the shamrock and used it as an illustration of the Trinity: one stem, with three leaves. Hence, the significance of the shamrock.
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