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One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship
Religious understanding is as important today than any other time in history. In this highly acclaimed book, Mary Pope Osborne introduces readers to the six major religions of the world. One World, Many Religions covers the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. All have had a deep effect on the laws and customs of every country. They have shaped art, literature, music, and education. They have given the world magnificent stories, songs, buildings, holy objects, ceremonies, and festivals." From the Introduction to Many Religions, One World. Best-selling children's author Mary Pope Osborne presents an accessible and elegantly crafted volume that introduces young readers to the world's seven major religions. Six short readable chapters--perfectly targeted to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders--detail the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Handsomely designed and featuring fifty oversized color photographs and a full complement of reference materials, including a map, time line, and bibliography, this book provides a thorough and thoughtful presentation of the diverse ways people worship around the world.
-Outstanding introduction to world religion for young readers.
-Unanimously praised when first published in 1996
-Newly updated reference materials such as a glossary, map, timeline and bibliography complete this excellent book.
-Features over 50 full-color photos.
-Outstanding introduction to world religion for young readers.
-Unanimously praised when first published in 1996
-Newly updated reference materials such as a glossary, map, timeline and bibliography complete this excellent book.
-Features over 50 full-color photos.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Mary Pope Osborne
908 books2,296 followersMary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 25, 2022
This was a good overview of the religions Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and somewhat Taoism. (Not that much info was given about Taoism) This is a great learning tool to help get an overall perspective of these religions. I would definitely recommend this book if you're interested in learning about these religions.
January 14, 2015
My daughter was interested in reading a book about the practices of different religions. I thought this would be a great book because it had great reviews and it was written by the author of the Magic School Bus books. However, I did not like this book. One thing that really bothered me was the fact that the author included the protestant-Christian-version of the ten commandments in the Judaism section. The author seems to be unaware that the Jewish, Catholic, and protestant religions have somewhat different versions of the ten commandments. It also used the word "history" to describe some events that have been shown to not be true to history. This made me question the accuracy of information in the book that I was not as familiar with. Another thing that I did not like was that events, including ones that many would consider legendary, were treated as fact. This may have just been the writing style that the author selected. However, my daughter found it confusing.
May 28, 2015
This book focuses on the worlds main religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. My favorite religion from the book is Hinduism. Hinduism wasn't founded by one person, but developed by many people over the years. Hinduism has about 750 followers and is one of the well known religions. Some of the most important gods are Vishnu, Lakshmi, and Durga. Vishnu is a king god who comes to earth in human form. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and good fortune according to the book. Durga is the goddess who protects the universe. The most popular god is Ganesh who provides help to the people.
I like this book because it expresses in great detail the facts about the religion, but at the same time it isn't boring. What do you think about these religions?
I like this book because it expresses in great detail the facts about the religion, but at the same time it isn't boring. What do you think about these religions?
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August 10, 2016This book is the second book in this text set. As pre-reading, students should discuss their understandings of religions as an ideology and quickly recap the five major religions discussed in One World Many Religions. After reading the book, students will have a basic understanding of what the main religions are and their practices. Students can then form an understanding of the history of world religions with a supplemented project in which they must research and present on the history of these religions to their classmates. this book serves as a fine bridge between religion as a concept and examples of religions commonly practiced throughout the world today.
May 26, 2016
Great introduction to major world religions for children (probably ages 7+) or anyone interested in a brief overview of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
November 29, 2017
This book was super cool and a really interesting read! I knew of the religions mentioned in the book but I did not know any actual details regarding some of the religions. I sort of had some knowledge about the people that they worship in each religion and some of their traditions that they participate in. I think that this would be a great book to have in a classroom because it is a way to inform students about different religions. It is a way for students to be more open minded and culturally responsive because different cultures have different religions. I would not want to use this book as a read aloud as an anytime read but as a read aloud if I were to be teaching different religions. I feel like this would be a great book to use in a world history classroom in a junior high or even in a high school classroom. Students do not want to be reading from thick textbooks all the time. It would be a great way to switch things up.
November 18, 2019
One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship can be used in classrooms to explore the different world religions and origins of each. It can draw on a social studies unit and tie together both location and religion, and ultimately help students become more culturally aware. This book discusses some of the larger religions (as in practiced by high populations). This book would likely represent the religions students in the classroom may practice, and if not, I would encourage the students to share what other religions are represented in the classroom so we can find a book on those as well. I want to create a classroom atmosphere that makes students feel welcome to discuss their belief system without fear of being judged. This book provides many photographs that capture the places, people, and rituals of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism and Taoism.
May 28, 2017
One World Many Religions
4/5 stars
This book was so fun and kind of a coffee table book that'd be fun to own to reference whenever you needed to.
The sections on Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism I was fairly familiar with but still appreciated the brush up and the cultural photos that where included with each section.
But I specifically found the rest such as Islam, -Confucianism and Taoism, both of with I had never heard of prior to reading this book- to be very interesting and enlightening.
Overall:
I enjoyed this and would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the more popular religions of the world.
4/5 stars
This book was so fun and kind of a coffee table book that'd be fun to own to reference whenever you needed to.
The sections on Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism I was fairly familiar with but still appreciated the brush up and the cultural photos that where included with each section.
But I specifically found the rest such as Islam, -Confucianism and Taoism, both of with I had never heard of prior to reading this book- to be very interesting and enlightening.
Overall:
I enjoyed this and would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the more popular religions of the world.
August 10, 2020
I enjoyed this short read and learned quite a bit about different major religions. However, there is a map at the end of the book that forgot about Greenland and Iceland on there and I wish there would be some examples or clarification for the parts of the world that do not practice a major religion instead of leaving the map unmarked. Also, I recently discovered the Bahá’i religion which is the worlds newest major religion, and while there are only around 10 million members in the world, I wish this book would have given it a mention!
September 29, 2019
Quick primer of the world’s major religions (you could read it in an hour or two). Bought it to read with my daughter and wound up reading it myself. Respectful in it’s tone, careful in it’s descriptions, and focuses on the most relevant aspects of the world’s major religions with nice illustrations to complement the writing. Focuses on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk religions fused with Confucianism and Taoism.
April 14, 2018
This is a very basic overview of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism/Taoism.
January 1, 2021
Wonderful! Such a brilliant resource and so well-written.
October 30, 2013
This book gives a religious view on the six major religions of the world. It covers the beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The author Mary Pop Osborne goes into depth about the practices of each religion and how they practice religions in different countries all around the world. There are nice illustrations of paintings, sculptures, and significant symbols of every religion in this book. This book is great for young children and has a very variety of things to capture their attention. As a teacher, I would include this book in my teachings to show the cultural traditions of people all around the world. I could read this book to them and show them how diverse a religion could be just by living in different countries. I could teach them how not all people are the same and how we live in a very diverse world where everyone is not alike. Mary Pop Osborne is an American Christian women and she did a great job telling us about multiple beliefs and not just one. The students will love the bright glossy pictures that she used and it will have those asking questions about unfamiliar artifacts they haven’t seen before. The symbols she also included were interesting because I never knew what the symbols symbolized. She did an amazing job…this is an amazing book.
February 3, 2013
Everyone should read this book.
It is suitable for children as young as 5 or 6 (read to by an adult) for older readers to enjoy by themselves, AND for adults like me, who just wanted to be a little less ignorant of other people's beliefs and traditions.
The best thing about this book (which outlines the seven most practised religions in the world) is that it shows us, very gently, how all our traditions and religions have a very similar basic belief - loving one another - and that the only real difference between our faiths is HOW we go about that. It is a super book for informing one a little about the holidays and traditions of our friends' religions, just enough that we might all have a little more respect for them.
The fact that it is a book suited to children (as well as adults) does mean that some of the specifics of each reliegion are glossed over, but this is only right in the context of a book who's message surely is that the specifics are far less important than the basic truth of all these religions - love.
It is suitable for children as young as 5 or 6 (read to by an adult) for older readers to enjoy by themselves, AND for adults like me, who just wanted to be a little less ignorant of other people's beliefs and traditions.
The best thing about this book (which outlines the seven most practised religions in the world) is that it shows us, very gently, how all our traditions and religions have a very similar basic belief - loving one another - and that the only real difference between our faiths is HOW we go about that. It is a super book for informing one a little about the holidays and traditions of our friends' religions, just enough that we might all have a little more respect for them.
The fact that it is a book suited to children (as well as adults) does mean that some of the specifics of each reliegion are glossed over, but this is only right in the context of a book who's message surely is that the specifics are far less important than the basic truth of all these religions - love.
June 21, 2012
Information Book. Grades 4 and up. Published in 1996. This is an illustrated book which looks into the history and beliefs of the world’s religion. Ms. Osborne discusses Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The major theme of this book is obviously religion, however you can tie in geography and language arts. This could be used in history and aligning these religions to when they began. There is a map in the back of the book which shows which regions the religions are practiced – tie that into geography. There is also a glossary; those words could be used as vocabulary words.
April 24, 2012
I really liked the way this book was layed out. Each religion had its own chapter and the information was easy to find. I learned a lot of new things about some of the religions I feel very ignorant about. The pictures that Osborne chose to use are spectacular and accurately portray certain holidays, ceremonies and places of worship. I would recommend this simplistic explanation of our world's 6 largest religions to anyone who is looking to expand their knowledge on other culture's believes!
February 18, 2013
A very easy read, and a decent enough summary of the most popular world religions. Still I felt it never really gave any depth at all, and I barely learned anything new, which was the whole point of reading it. To give you a sense of how little information there is, it covers 7+ major religions and their splinter groups, and each major religion gets about 8 pages, more or less.
One thing it does well is present the beliefs and values from a factual and historical viewpoint without any claims of truth.
The infographics at the end were helpful, though.
One thing it does well is present the beliefs and values from a factual and historical viewpoint without any claims of truth.
The infographics at the end were helpful, though.
November 20, 2008
Beautiful color illustrations dominate the pages of this overview of contemporary world religions. Popular children’s author Mary Pope Osborne leaves her tree house to present the lessons of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism in one coffee table style volume. The detailed map of the seven major religions, the timeline, and the bibliography offer students an entertaining resolution to an assignment on religion.
March 9, 2011
This informational read offers an insight into the various religions and ways in which individual worship around the world. The book provides a timeline of the religions, as well as a glossary for unfamiliar terms/words. This book can be used to introduce, discuss and learn about the various religions in the world.
April 5, 2009
An exploration of six major groups of religions.
A well-written if generalized book, that treads carefully to avoid any bias or prejudice, but its very generalities diminish it as a highly regarded resource.
A well-written if generalized book, that treads carefully to avoid any bias or prejudice, but its very generalities diminish it as a highly regarded resource.
May 17, 2012
I read this on my daughter Emma's recommendation. It is a wonderful overview of seven of the great religions of the world; Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Written for children but great for adults.
November 10, 2008
This book discusses different religions around the world instead of focusing on one. I think that children need to be informed and respect others beliefs.
January 29, 2010
This book provides short yet well rounded summaries to help the reader to learn about different religions of the world. The photographs are also insightful.
Want to read
February 25, 2009I heard this was a very informative book. I plan to read it myself then pass it along to my kids.
January 31, 2015
I wanted a little more detail but otherwise excellent read.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews