Book: Joy (#2 in The Invisible Tree  Series)
Author: Kirrily Lowe
Illustrator: Henry Smith
Hardback: 32 pages
Publisher: Wombat Books, Australia, 2013
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1 922074850
RRP: $16.99 (Also available in electronic formats)

Reviewed By: Penny Reeve

Blurb:  “I’ve lost my joy where could it be?” Come with our little girl on a search to find her “Joy”.  Is it under the apple tree, is it out to sea, or is it in something that we cannot see?  A message for little ones and big ones – where do we go to find joy when we have lost it.
Other books in The Invisible Tree series include: #1 Love, #3 Peace and #4 Patience.

What I thought: The books in The Invisible Tree  series are absolutely beautiful to look at! Henry Smith’s design and artwork is collage like and he cleverly uses apparently ‘cut out’ pieces of newspapers or magazines to form the text on each page. I love the colours and textures of the medium. Like I said before, beautiful.
The concept behind these books is obviously the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-23). These ‘fruits’ grow on an invisible tree that ‘lives inside of me’. Now, I must admit, I’m not a big fan of teaching the fruit of the Spirit to children because I feel it is very often a mechanism for teaching works when the Biblical emphasis is actually on the work of the Holy Spirit. Having said that I was encouraged to watch how Kirrily explores the concept of Joy as being separate from happiness and being more about our relationship with God.
There are some wonderful lines in this book that subtly challenge common misconceptions about the location of joy: for example the lure of escapism, waiting for prince charming and my favourite ‘the secret land of shoooshhhhhhh’. (Ahh yes, I often think joy will be only possible when everyone’s sound asleep!) Unfortunately I think the very fact my heart resonates so loudly with the message of this book is perhaps its weakness as a children’s book. I wonder if the concepts and poetic imagery are still a little too abstract for young minds. But I’ll let you make up your mind on that one. For a story that begins discussion on what exactly these often memorised ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ might mean, Joy is a good start.

Rating:    

Where to buy: Australian readers may find it easiest to stock this book from their local Christian bookstore or the author’s website. In the USA and elsewhere, The Invisible Tree Series are best ordered from Light The Dark.

This book was reviewed by Penny Reeve as part of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance. Penny is a children’s writer from Australian and is always on the look-out for great stories for kids that explore faith related concepts.

www.pennyreeve.com