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Overview
What will Adam and Eve do when the sun begins to set for the first time? Is it their fault? Does it mean that God is angry? Award-winning author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has created another profound story-a beautiful recasting of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve in the Garden-for today's children, their parents, and their teachers. This is the story of Adam and Eve's first test of trust and faith and how they learned to find hope and light-even in the dark.Synopsis
What will Adam and Eve do when the sun begins to set for the first time? Is it their fault? Does it mean that God is angry? Award-winning author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has created another profound story-a beautiful recasting of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve in the Garden-for today's children, their parents, and their teachers. This is the story of Adam and Eve's first test of trust and faith and how they learned to find hope and light-even in the dark.
Publishers Weekly
The sun is going down on the first day in Eden, and Adam and Eve can't believe their eyes. Creatively and fruitfully expanding on a midrash, Sasso imagines Adam and Eve's surprise and, later, their fear and helplessness as they watch the sun sink irretrievably (or so they think) past the horizon and plunge the earth into darkness. They pray to God to bring back the sun, build fires that don't last, pray again and, when there's "no answer," they fall asleep, "waiting for the world to end." It's easy to identify with Sasso's Adam and Eve, whose childlike reactions allow readers to experience the Creation story in a new and personal way. Rothenberg, previously paired with Sasso for Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace, adheres to her folk-art style. She sets the action within brightly patterned framed panels on colorful textured paper; this elaborate set-up, however, distances the audience from the goings-on. The artist's apparent wish to keep Adam and Eve discreetly covered also limits readers' direct exposure to them-they are dwarfed by the scale, partially obstructed, etc. While the illustrations are attractive, they don't match the text in its attainment of a very high goal: making a classic Bible tale freshly affecting. Ages 6-up. (Dec.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
The sun is going down on the first day in Eden, and Adam and Eve can't believe their eyes. Creatively and fruitfully expanding on a midrash, Sasso imagines Adam and Eve's surprise and, later, their fear and helplessness as they watch the sun sink irretrievably (or so they think) past the horizon and plunge the earth into darkness. They pray to God to bring back the sun, build fires that don't last, pray again and, when there's "no answer," they fall asleep, "waiting for the world to end." It's easy to identify with Sasso's Adam and Eve, whose childlike reactions allow readers to experience the Creation story in a new and personal way. Rothenberg, previously paired with Sasso for Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace, adheres to her folk-art style. She sets the action within brightly patterned framed panels on colorful textured paper; this elaborate set-up, however, distances the audience from the goings-on. The artist's apparent wish to keep Adam and Eve discreetly covered also limits readers' direct exposure to them-they are dwarfed by the scale, partially obstructed, etc. While the illustrations are attractive, they don't match the text in its attainment of a very high goal: making a classic Bible tale freshly affecting. Ages 6-up. (Dec.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
With the gift of a word-wise storyteller, Sandy Sasso creates a tale to inspire children as well as adults. The language is simple, but beautiful as she describes how the sun slipped away from Adam and Eve on their first day on earth. Both try to comfort and keep the sun in the sky only to find that their ideas are not heeded. Their worry is apparent as they find themselves in the dark. Fortunately, that night Adam and Eve discover how to make fire. In the morning the sun rises again, thrilling the two. Wild, vivid illustrations planted on bright backgrounds pepper the pages. Borders frame and add highlights to the pictures. Whether for the story or the illustrations, readers and listeners will want to look through this book again and again. The entire package comes from a publisher presenting "multicultural, nondenominational, nonsectarian literature endorsed by Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish religious leaders." 2003, Jewish Lights Publishing, Ages 4 up.—Nancy Garhan Attebury