Best this month
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
How to Train Your Dragon 2 No matter how many positive messages parents give their
children about the joys of living with animals, the culture still peddles the propaganda that animals exist for humans to use in any way they choose. We know in our hearts that these creatures of God shouldn’t be viewed as property and dispos- able items. This is the message of How to Train Your Dragon 2. In the Viking community of Berk, teenage Hiccup and
his dragon Toothless live with other humans and dragons in peace. His father is looking forward to the day when the boy will be the clan’s leader. But first he must be tested by a villain
The Great Day The boy wakes first in his
home and is a ball of energy. He gets to the table and eats while his parents are still half-asleep. The boy doesn’t just open the door, he leaps out. He doesn’t just walk to school, he jumps over a gar-
bage can. The boy expresses his emotions as freely as his physical zest: he is the first to cry, the first to laugh, the first to argue, the first to make up. Taro Gomi has created more than 350 books for
Author bio:
The Brussats publish the website www.SpiritualityandPractice. com where you can find more information about the items reviewed in this column.
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www.thelutheran.org
readers of all ages. This one shows how physical energy and emotional enthusiasm are ingredients of a great day in the life of a child—or for that matter, of any human being (Chronicle Books,
www.chroniclebooks.com ).
Hiccup and Toothless prepare for their next adventure.
who is building an army of slave dragons. Hiccup also meets a reclusive woman who has created a sanctuary for these crea- tures. Three cheers for all those connected with this animated feature who have made such an entertaining and satisfying defense of animals’ well-being and protection (20th Century Fox/DreamWorks, PG—adventure action, some mild humor).
We Make the Road by Walking: A Year- Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation
Best-selling author, speaker, activist and public theo-
logian Brian D. McLaren has created an astonishing 52-week curriculum for use in Christian communities. Mustering all the seriousness and sensitivity we have come to expect of him, he takes us on a personal guided tour of the Bible. It’s organized around readings of the traditional church year on Jesus, faith, commu- nity, Spirit, desire, unity, diversity and stewardship. These readings enlighten and inspire us to forge a fresh path of faith and social engage- ment, to toss out our lethargic ways and bad habits, and to walk the talk of God’s kingdom. A major focus is on everyday spir-
ituality—bringing our faith alive in our being and doing, in our jobs and dreams, in the communal and the inner work we do, locally and globally. McLaren salutes the movements of the Spirit in the biblical stories and in those of our lives (Jericho Books,
www.jerichobooks.com).
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