Brother Juniper (review)

Legend has it that one of St. Francis's friars, Brother Juniper, took his message of joy-filled poverty particularly to heart, often giving in charity what his brother monks would have considered their own subsistence. This light-hearted tale (which may bring nostalgic chuckles to adults who remember Fred McCarthy's old cartoons) recounts how Brother Juniper was entrusted to watch the chapel in the brothers' absence, and by the time they returned, he had stripped the building down to its tile floors, and himself down to the skin, to ensure that his flock had food, clothing, and shelter. Though Gibfried's text is a bit lean in spots (she never explains where Brother Juniper got his new robe and rosary in time to appear with some decorum when he addressed a thankful crowd), it's steadily paced, avoiding hagiography or corniness. So's delicate watercolors, which lovingly individuate each monk and render Juniper an artlessly simple man rather than a simpleton, are both reverent and merry. Adults jaded by recent Church scandals may cringe at the thought of a naked cleric, but there's nothing like a bare butt to keep an audience of rug-sitters in thrall.