Review: Up on the Mountaintop
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2014
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is a children’s book written by Anat Umansky. Mixing stories from Judaism and Christianity, it tells the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God at Mt. Sinai. The book summarizes the events of Exodus 19-20 as well as added some elements from Jewish texts about the event.The book begins after the Israelites have left Egypt and escaped Pharaoh. They have crossed the Red Sea and are in the desert. At the foot of Mt. Sinai, Moses goes to speak with God. While he is gone the people lose faith, say that Moses has died, and start to follow false gods.The illustrations in the book are quite nice and do a great job of complimenting the text. They really help move the story along and provide a snapshot of what is happening.THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is supposed to be geared towards children 8-10 years old. Although it is written as a children’s book, I believe many children, especially those without much Biblical education, will have some difficulty in following the text. For many children, the book will probably work better as something to read together with an adult. Also, there will be some who will probably find the story unsettling because of the combination of Christian and Jewish sources.Overall, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is a nicely illustrated children’s religious book about Moses and the Ten Commandments. The book is a bit more challenging than other similar books on the same topic and it contains a mixture of Christian and Jewish sources than some might be unsettled by.