It is strange how difficult it is to find material on the Apostles. As a Protestant, I am interested in teaching within our home school the important part the Apostles played in taking the gospel message from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8). 
 Research lead me to this title by Marianna Mayer. There are many things to like about this book. The one page summary of each Apostle's life is palatable, even for a young student. I like the inclusion of each Apostle's symbols so that students can more easily identify them in the art of the church. The full color pictures are vibrant. The summary of what we know about individual Apostles from the Biblical text is well done. And we used the geographic information given about travels of Apostles for a geography lesson. Finally, I greatly appreciated the footnotes of both Biblical references and extra-Biblical sources. 
 So why am I not raving about this book? 
 There is a disconnect between the classic pictures and the text. When the text references that Peter is symbolized by "keys, cockerel", my student and I eager searched the two images to find indication of either, and emerged... confused. This trend continues through other profiles. The pictures chosen are beautiful masterpieces, but it would have aided learning to have images that illustrated the concepts taught in the text. 
 Some of the text, particularly at the bottom relating to feast days and traditions, does refer to reverencing and praying to the saints. For Catholics, this is to be expected, but for Protestants, students will need some explanation that there is "only one mediator between God and man... Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). Example: Jude Thaddeus "Since the eighteenth century, Christians in France and Germany have prayed to Jude Thaddaeus as the Saint of Lost Causes; today he continues to be petitioned by many Christians throughout the world. His symbol is a gold sailing ship with silver sails before a red horizon." And to my previous point, we could find no such ship in either of the two images provided. 
 I found a little of the text to be too reverential/ saint oriented. All the Apostles are repeatedly referred to as "holy" in the text, and I am uncomfortable with my student seeing them as beyond human. Additionally, in some passages, the Apostle referenced is ascribed pure personality. For example, John the Evangelist, "This gentle, humble Apostle..." Was he gentle and humble when he asked Jesus to rain down fire on the Samaritan village in Luke 9:54? Or was it perhaps his request, with his brother, James, for a place of honor in Jesus' kingdom? There is no footnote, so this type of comment seems a reach by the author. 
 I guess because we are focused on Acts 1:8 as the summary of the spread of the early church, I was hoping for a little more specificity on the journeys of individual Apostles. Perhaps this is merely an ideal of my own teaching that it is unreasonable to expect Mayer to fulfill. 
 I should also say something about what is NOT in this book. 
 1) I greatly appreciate that the author doesn't muddy the water by including Mary Magdaline as an Apostle, as other resources I researched do. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give lists of the 12 and Mary Magdaline is not among them. 
 2) The author makes clear where she is drawing from Scripture, where from the Apocrypha and where from legend. I appreciate that. 
 3) Judas' betrayal is explained on one page with Matthias' page facing him in a single layout. People who are comfortable with Peter's selection of Matthias will find this easy going. However, individuals who want to present Paul as the possible 12th will have to fill in some gaps. In my mind, this does not harm the book, but it is worth knowing going into it, particularly if you are buying it with the intent of teaching. 
 Since writing this review, I discovered "The Twelve" by Ben Avery, which satisfies my desire for clear teaching in an engaging format, though it lacks the classicism of Mayer's approach. 
 The Twelve, Ben Avery, 2014 
 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...