Annabelle & Aiden: OH MY GODS! A History of Belief

A wonderfully brief look at the origin of various religions and how they relate to each other and the people that follow them. My kiddo and I enjoyed looking at the beautiful illustrations and reading the inscriptions hidden within each image. Each page covered a different god/dess and their location. An important look at how religion can guide peoples actions, this book is neither for or against any specific belief. Instead, it is wonderfully simple with just the right amount of information to open further discussions with your kids.

My children love all the Annabelle and Aiden books that we own. We looked forward to reading this one. As a Humanist family, we enjoyed this book as a way to initiate a conversation about religion and why people have believed different things throughout the years.The story is in typical picture book form with a natural rhythm that introduced the different beliefs and where they originated. Nothing dry. But, I really liked the Art because hidden inside were facts about the topic in case your child wanted to dig a little deeper. That’s what made this read engaging for both our younger and older children.

This is an amazing historical perspective on religion. The book explores a plethora of religions from a humanist perspective that is child-friendly, detailed, and respectful of the variety of beliefs. Regardless of your personal beliefs, I think this is a must-have introduction to world religions and how they have changed throughout history. It also encourages introspection for both adults and children--what "Gods" or "gods" are in your life? To that end, I love the final stanza:They're a part of our shared past.They bring out our best and worst.So, to learn about ourselves,we could study our gods first.

Amazing story, awesome artwork! Can't wait to give this to my son!

I love the poem and message of the book. And I would almost buy this book for like-minded friends, but there is a big stylistic error in it that drives me crazy. At the very end they put pictures of real people in the book, I know they are trying to add some connection to the real world, but all these people are white... the world is not made up of just white people. Are they implying only white people believe in God? In these different philosophies? If you can only get white people to agree to put their face in the book, then why do it? The artwork in the book is absolutely beautiful, why ruin it by putting a bunch of low res pictures of people in it. It drives me so crazy I almost want to cut it out or draw over it with a big marker. What kind of message is the author sending to my kid that only white people matter. Sorry, this urks me a lot and not sure why that choice was made. Other than that, I like the poetic simplification of the history of the big religions made which helps bridge the conversation about God and faith with my children. Although it has led into more a discussion of why are there a bunch of white people's pictures at the end if the book is encompassing world religions. Please in future productions just get rid of the pics of real people it takes away from the awesomeness and beauty of the book. (Yes, I left 4 stars because I thought 90% of the book is great, just don't look at the last page.)

The premise of this book is great and the illustrations are stunning. As an adult, I found the story very interesting. The text touches very briefly on each religion that it won’t give kids much of an understanding of them but perhaps more an awareness. It will definitely prompt further discussion and questions and is a great starting point.

This book is visually beautiful and gives a lot of great information about many different religions. I will admit, I knew most of them, but there were definitely some I was unfamiliar with, so I think this book would benefit people of all ages. It's important to understand differences, so this is a great book to start that discussion.

I bought this because it was recommended by local parents, and I thought it might help answer my child’s questions about what people mean when they talk about God. I found it frustrating due to the forced rhymes, language that is sometimes overly complex, and the very surface-level coverage of complex topics (religious and spiritual traditions are touched on very lightly, and further books will be needed for any thorough explanation or real curiosity). From a format perspective, I also did not enjoy having to turn the book and squint at illustrations for definitions and further info about concepts like animism, shamanism, etc.Primarily, though, I was turned off by the thoroughly white, male, nonspiritual/rationalist lens of the book. As other reviewers point out, there are no people of color in the book. The photo of faces in the back is overwhelmingly white, as are the illustrations throughout, and this is a strange oversight for a book focusing on world religions. The description of animism is dismissive toward indigenous traditions and land-centered traditions when it says “we went way too far” in believing that earth and animals have spirits. Moreover, these traditions are presented as if at the beginning of a timeline, implying that they are relics of history and no longer relevant or practiced. And the jumping off from Shamanism into a glossy version of the story of Zeus and Metis erases any trace of Goddess traditions and steps right into patriarchal religions with a strong Western focus.I did not get the sense from this book that the author had more in-depth knowledge about religion than any person doing a cursory internet search, and I didn’t feel like the book offered more depth than that.

I got this as a free kindle download and its my first Annabelle & Aiden book. I’ve heard good things about this series - but are all the books in rhyme? The rhyming feels forced, especially when they’ve chosen words that are above and beyond the child’s reading level (eg. Food with accrue). I’m sure the rhyming is another reason why there is such limited content on the actual subject: world religions. Egypt and Greece both only have 8 couplets of information. Really? That’s all you have to say about two large and interesting pantheons? Not even a list of deities? The Greeks page simply names Zeus, and Athena.I’m still not sure who this book is geared to. Religion is a hard subject to tackle and usually left for an older child. This book feels like a book for years 5-7 but the rhyming is awkward and feels like reading Doctor Seuss: a whole lot of nonsense words that sound funny to a young child who will forget it all as soon as the book is closed.There are better books out there that provide a basic introduction to world religions and gods.

A gorgeous book with a sweet story and full of fascinating facts about the history of religion. Really informative!