Rating: *** 3 stars

Ruth Nason,
Belonging
Celebrating harvest
Gifts at Christmas
The Jewish Faith
Visiting a Church
Visiting a Mosque
Visiting a Synagogue
Visiting a Gurdwara, with Kanwaljit Kaur-Singh,
Visiting a Mandir, with Jean Mead,
Evans Books ('Start-Up Religion' Series), 2005.

Last September the Religious Council for England and Wales (with the support of the major faiths) formulated a strategy to reinvigorate RE which it sees as 'educationally necessary' and a 'crucial weapon in the fight against an ignorance which allows extremists to flourish'.  A key feature of its strategy is the development of proper RE tuition at foundation age.

Aimed at Key Stage 1 pupils (5-7 year olds) rather than the youngest children, Nason's excellent new series nevertheless shows that this most abstract of subjects can be presented in terms within the grasp of this age group—and without indoctrination.  The brief text is simple but not afraid to introduce new words; and is neatly married to specially commissioned and informative photographs.  Two pages at the back of each book aimed at parents and teachers will help them to mediate the content and to develop related activities.

The harvest and Christmas titles have an obvious appeal: they could be used in a wide variety of contexts.  Perhaps the most successful title, however, is Belonging which, although it focuses on Christian baptism, explores what it means to be a part of a wider community be it a family, school, club or faith.  In every sense, it is a good book.

David Self, January 2006, No. 156

Guide to the rating system:
***** 5 stars, unmissable
**** 4 stars, very good
*** 3 stars, good
** 2 stars, fair
* 1 star, poor