Pauline Baynes, noted for her illustrations for J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis's Narnia titles, brings her artistry to an elegant edition of I Believe: The Nicene Creed, the statement of Christian belief drafted in 325 at the council convened by Constantine. Illuminated capitals and architectonic forms pay homage to the style of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, while the sumptuous palette invokes Persian manuscripts as well. The slightly undersize format helps earmark the book for gift-giving. (Eerdmans, $16 32p all ages ISBN 0-8028-5258-0; Aug.)
Second in the What You Will See Inside series, What You Will See Inside a Mosque by Aisha Karen Khan, photos by Aaron Pepis, conducts readers on a tour of a Muslim house of worship, at the same time ably introducing the tenets of the faith. The first spread, for example, introduces the call to prayer, or adhan. While the main text explains the function of the adhan and outlines prayer rituals, a large photo shows a man performing the adhan, and sidebars include photos of a minaret and of prayer clocks. The photos, mostly inviting and appealing, issue a friendly overture to a non-Muslim audience. (SkyLight Paths, $16.95 32p ages 6-10 ISBN 1-893361-60-8; July)
Howard Schwartz's The Day the Rabbi Disappeared: Jewish Holiday Tales of Magic, illus. by Monique Passicot, is now available in a trade paperback from the Jewish Publication Society. PW's starred review praised the collection of a dozen tales, each devoted to a different holiday and infused with a potent dose of mysticism, for its expert storytelling as well as its historical breadth. (JPS, $9.95 paper 80p ages 8-up ISBN 0-8276-0757-1; June)
