Who Counts?: 100 Sheep, 10 Coins, and 2 Sons by Amy-Jill Levine, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Margaux Meganck (Illustrator)

Oh, no! The man is missing his sheep! The woman is missing her coin! The father is missing his son! Can you help them find what they are looking for?

Who Counts? is a creative retelling of three of Jesus' most popular parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. As young readers count to help the characters find what's missing, Who Counts? teaches that every one of us counts in God's eyes and that everyone should feel counted.

The stories are beautifully illustrated with modern-day characters and a diversity of ethnicities so that all children will be able to see themselves in the stories. Ideal for children ages 4-8. Includes a note for parents and teachers.


About The Authors

Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, and Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science in Nashville, Tennessee; Affiliated Professor at the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations at Cambridge; and a self-described "Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches in a predominantly Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt." She is the author of The Misunderstood Jew, The Meaning of the Bible (coauthored with Douglas Knight), and the editor of The Jewish Annotated New Testament.

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso teaches Religion and Judaism at Butler University and Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. She serves on the board of advisors of Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis; the board of directors for the Julian Center, an agency providing support and counseling services to victims of domestic violence; the Indiana Humanities Council; and the Patachou Foundation. She is a member of the Lake Family Institute Advisory Board and past chair of the Spirit and Place Advisory Board—the annual festival celebrating the Arts, Religion, and Humanities. Rabbi Sandy also edited Urban Tapestry, Indianapolis Stories, and she and her husband, Dennis write a monthly column in The Indianapolis Star.


 

My Review

The first story is about a man who has 100 sheep, and looses one, and now his may concern is finding the lost one. The next is about a woman with 100 coins, and then looses one, and the rest of the story is her pursuit of finding the lost coin. As we get to the last story about the man’s lost son returning, we sort of see how loosing one, makes you yearn for its return and thus the man’s rejoicing for the returned one.
What the perfect book examples of the parables, while geared to children ages 4 to 8, older and younger would still benefit.
The story of the Prodigal Son is always a difficult one, but with the showing of how a person yearns for the lost one, it becomes much more clear for little minds, and maybe adult ones.
I received this book through LibraryThing, and was not required to give a positive review.