Jesus and the 12 Dudes Who Did

Jesus and the 12 Dudes Who Did is an engaging and novel way to introduce Jesus's friends to young children. I like the way the author singles out each disciple and shares something special about each one of Jesus' closest friends. The 3-D faces invite the child to actively participate in the story. As they learn something special about each "dude" and touch each one they experience that just like themselves each one is distinctive and special to Jesus.

Like the other reviewers, I agree that this book is great for kids to learn more about the disciples as individuals. The artwork is fun, too. The only caveat that I would offer is that the disciples seem to be depicted mostly as white-skinned people with slight tans. It would have been nice had the pictures depicted the disciples a teensy-weensy more realistically. Overall, however, this is a wonderful and enjoyable book for kids to learn about the disciples.

My little ones like this book. Each disciple is portrayed individually. An earlier reviewer didn't like the word "dude" and wondered why it was used. I'd say probably because kids might relate to the term better than "apostle" or "disciple". Whatever, it's cute and a good way to present these men who gave up everything to follow Jesus. Good gift this time of year.

What I like most about this book is how each Apostle is presented as an individual. Too often, children learn about the twelve Apostles as a group, but here something unique is presented about each man. It even reminded me of how each man had something to offer Christ in His mission to spread His message. I enjoyed the rhymes and found the graphic and 3D faces of the Apostles very appealing, as does my toddler. My only complaint about this book is the title, which I find unnecessarily flip. "Dudes"?? NOT NECESSARY! The rest of the text is completely respectful and accurate, as far as I can tell. In fact, the title to me doesn't even go with the tone or the message of the book. I addressed this simply putting a white label over the "Dudes Who Did" part and covered it with the word "Apostles."

This is a great book that explains in a few sentences what each disciple was known for. It also rhymes. I think it's a good way to sneak a little kingdom knowledge into friends or family members. For example, I bought a kids bible for my cousin once and my Aunt learned about the bible from reading to her son. I'm buying several copies of this book and giving it to friends that have children, but might not know much about Jesus and His disciples.