What I Believe

"What I Believe: A Young Person's Guide to the Religions of the World," by Alan Brown and Andrew Langley, is overall a well written book. The book includes several chapters, each of which is dedicated to a major religious tradition: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Shinto. There is also a "catch-all" chapter which gives limited information on other traditions: the Jain faith, the Baha'i faith, Rastafarianism, etc.The various chapters describe certain aspects of these religions: the founding figure, customs, festivals, rites of passage, holy books, etc. The articles also describe some of the diversity in each tradition. The book also has a helpful glossary at the end.The book is not without flaws and inconsistencies. For example, the authors mention "new cults" without really explaining the term. Also, they seem to leave out any real acknowledgment of secular humanism, atheism, or religious liberalism.Overall, the book presents a rather sanitized look at world religions. The authors write, "As long as we respect each other's beliefs and allow people to practice their religion freely, the world should be a happier place. Religion can help us to live like brothers and sisters." A nice sentiment, but often far from harsh reality. Despite its flaws, however, "What I Believe" is an admirable achievement overall.

What I Believe is a brightly illustrated "first-person" introduction to various world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Shinto, and Taoism. Each major belief system is told through the eyes of a cheerfully drawn child who compare and contrast the major tenets of their faiths. Color photographs are interspersed with drawings of the children describing what it means to be of their faith, traditions, festivals, and practices around the world. This is a simple introduction to comparative religion, and it would be nearly impossible to try to describe all of the variants of each religion, so it comes as no surprise that there are a few details that have been left out. For instance, no mention is made that while Jews remember the near-sacrifice of Abraham's son Isaac, Muslims believe that the story is told about his son Ishmael - a minor differenc to some, but obviously not to Jews and Muslims. Much of the section on Christianity focuses on Catholic and Anglican worship, describing special garments that priests wear, saints, candles, and other trappings not traditionally found in many Protestant services. Finally, there are a few editing mistakes that obscure meaning: is the Buddhist meditative cloth a thanka or a tharka? Other than those glitches, this is a nice addition to any library for children, as it seems to be written from an ecumenical point of view, encouraging children to learn about and respect one another's faith systems. From a non-expert point of view, it does not seem to contain offensive or questionable information, and the fun illustrations are an easy way to introduce children to a variety of cultural and religious practices.