Beautiful book! Will revisit at Easter also.

L'Engle offers thoughts, questions and speculation on the life of Christ as reflected in Giotto's paintings. The fresco doesn't always do it for me (some representations are jarring for a modern viewer) but I still enjoyed the way the reader is invited to relate to the scenes.

This is a part story and part personal meditation on the life of Christ, illustrated with Giotto's frescoes from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. I'm a big fan of Giotto and also of some (although not others) of L'Engle's fiction, so naturally I picked this up.

Text: There is narration of the Biblical story. You will likely have no trouble following it unless you are a complete Jesus noob. Interspersed are L'Engle's thoughts on God, on how the people involved in the events might have felt, and on the theological significance. I'm not sure I found them especially valuable, but this will be very personally variable depending on taste and how much religious reading you've already done in your life.

Art: These are good quality reproductions. A nice intro to Giotto if you haven't seen his work. Nowadays you can see the Chapel online.
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While I appreciate reading about books of all faiths I am not a christian so this story didn't have any additional emotional or spiritual significance for me. I enjoy sharing varied religious stories with my daughter so she can have some appreciation and knowledge of them and maybe find one that speaks to her. If nothing else there are many biblical themes that appear in writing and its good to have a basic understanding of Christian doctrine. The only reason I checked The Glorious Impossible out from the library was because we are covering the art of Giotto in school and this was one of the few smaller books that was available. The afterward included a brief summary of his work but I would rather have not spent such time reading this lengthy picture book. One of my pet peeves about books like this is they are far to lengthy for its target audience; a small chapter book format would be better suited.

Many Christmases ago, one of our Sunday School teachers based a Christmas pageant on selected passages from this book. Giotto’s spectacular paintings inspired the tableaus and nativity scenes.

This year my spouse based her pageant on this wonderful model. It was heartfelt to see these images projected onto the altar, while children acted out the scenes, and read the narrative.

I am very glad I finally read this book. Madeleine L’Engle’s book covered the entire life of Jesus in lovely and simple prose. His entire life—and his teachings—might be viewed by some as glorious and impossible. However, L’Engle takes her answer right from scripture when she writes, “With God, nothing is impossible.”

In all honesty, I picked up this book because I was drawn to the cover art. I was not disappointed when i opened it up and read it! Beautiful paintings!

Picked up this wonderfully illustrated story of the coming, living, and dying of the Christ, during a recent retreat at the priory of All Saints Sisters of the Poor. It was an enchanting read even if I was only able to savor half of the pages. Upon my return home, I ordered a copy since I can't wait until my next retreat to savor the second half. The pages will lend themselves quite well to Lenten meditation.

So lovely. I can't wait to read it to my daughter.

3 - 3.5 stars

The frescoes would not have been my first choice for art, but good enough.

The theology is a bit off in places, but otherwise a fine explanation of the events depicted and she asks some excellent questions.

“Possible things are easy to believe. The Glorious Impossibles are what bring joy to our hearts, hope to our lives, songs to our lips.”

A beautifully illustrated gospel story using Giotto’s frescos to illuminate the scenes of Jesus’ life.

Cannot beat the marvelous artistry of Giotto. The book is lengthier and more expansive, content-wise, than I anticipated, so I would recommend it for all ages. My 4 and 2yo weren't quite ready for hearing the whole book in one sitting, but reading it section by section helps.

I am not a religious person, but I could not pass up this book in which Madeline L’Engle, inspired by Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, retells the story of Jesus Christ’s life.