Venerated for centuries, Mary remains, in the minds of many, a remote figure, portrayed in much of Western art as a belonging more to heaven than to earth, with little to remind us of her very human roots in a complex Middle Eastern culture and historical time. In Nikki Grimes's vibrant narrative, Mary's life is made palable: the hard work she must have performed, the foods she must have prepared, the physical pain and tumultuous emotions she must have felt, the luminous faith that sustained her. Throughout, Grimes is careful not to stray beyond the events and characters portrayed in Scripture while she brings Mary's life near to us, making her story startling fresh and powerful. Both down-to-earth and devout, Portrait of Mary reminds us of the earthshaking nature of the greatest story ever told, the story of the Word made flesh. Written with grace and elegant simplicity, it is a gift book to enlighten and inspire readers of all ages.