Sunday, May 23, 2010

Review--The Jesus Series

I received a free DVD from Thomas Nelson publishing in exchange for writing a review for Booksneeze.com. The review follows.

I watched The Jesus Series : Life and Miracles Read and Share Bible with my almost three-year-old son, and neither of us were very impressed. The half-hour DVD portrays Jesus’ ministry along the shores of Lake Galilee and the villages near Nazareth and shows the calling of the disciples, the feeding of 5,000, miracles, and the Lord’s Supper.

It’s always good to expose children to Bible stories and familiarize young children to Jesus’ life and ministry, so I do appreciate the DVD’s topic, but it could have been much better. I felt like important details were left out, and the first parts of the DVD, the calling of the disciples and when Jesus begin his public ministry by reading the Messianic prophecy at the Nazareth synagogue , were confusing and would have benefited by more voice-over explanation. Really, the DVD wasn’t very lively; it didn’t have much music, for example, and could have been more exciting to hold children’s interest better. This isn’t really a big deal, but I find it irritating Jesus is continually portrayed as Caucasian, when he probably wasn’t. The artists could have at least given him darker hair.

As this DVD wasn’t meant for me and is directed towards children, the real test is one my son thought of it. Although it did not keep his full attention, and he normally is very good about sitting through stories and 30 minute shows, he says he liked it and that he wants to watch it again sometime. Also, he asked several questions throughout the show, and anything that gets a kid talking about Jesus, is good!

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