The 11th Commandment: Wisdom from Our Children

Multicultural, Nonsectarian, Nondenominational

"If there were an Eleventh Commandment, what would it be?"

Children of many religious denominations across America answer this question―in their own drawings and words―in The 11th Commandment. This full-color collection of "Eleventh Commandments" reveals kids' ideas about how people should respond to God.

The publishers of this book asked children around the country a simple question: "If there were an Eleventh Commandment, what would it be?" The responses poured in from children from the suburbs and the inner city, from churches and synagogues. Collected here are many of the responses divided into sections on living with other people, living with the earth, living with family, living with ourselves and living with God. The suggestions range from four-year-old Carla Diaz's "No punching in the head" to six-year-old Tommy Chester's "Feed everyone and eat together." Nine-year-old Ali Dagger suggests: "Thou shall keep your body healthy as in thou shalt not pig out." Six-year-old Chelsea Stetson commands: "You must be nice to your Mom." The commandments are illustrated by the children's own colorful and imaginative crayon-and-marker drawings. All ages.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gives a kid s-eye view of what matters in 1990s America.

Ages 4^-8. Wonderful for lapsits and sharing with small groups, this unpretentious book shows youngsters united by their regard for one another and the world they live in. Children from several different faiths were asked to suggest an eleventh commandment. Their proposals, in artless words and colorful pictures, make up this unusual book, which provides both food for thought and insight into the hopes and fears of today's young. Family, self, the earth, and other people are the children's main concerns, with suggested commandments ranging from the poignant "try not to get divorced" to the thoughtful "you must respect everything God has created, including yourself." The art is nicely reproduced, but the layout is not particularly attractive: originality and authenticity count more here than aesthetics. A final blank page, which librarians can easily remove, invites readers to contribute their own new commandment. Stephanie Zvirin