Tender and thought-provoking.
Eve and Adam are thoroughly enjoying their miraculous life in the Garden of Eden.
Eve has questions about the wonders around her, especially the large and mysterious Tree of Knowledge. God warns them that if they eat the tree’s fruit, they’ll be forced to leave Eden forever. Adam is content, but Eve’s curiosity leads her closer to disobeying—surely they should make up their own minds, using the brains that God gave them? And the snake further provokes her discontent. The well-known outcome is inevitable, and their leaving is both poignant and hopeful, for their lives must now be of their own making. In this companion to Eve and Adam and Their Very First Day (2023), Kimmelman again employs the ancient Jewish tradition of midrash to interpret Bible stories, this time emphasizing Eve’s thirst for knowledge and the tender trust between her and Adam. Avgustinovich’s brightly expressive artwork captures both Eden’s beauty and the developing personalities of Eve and Adam—in particular, wide-eyed Eve’s inquisitiveness, joy, and frustrations. Laced with humor and empathy, Kimmelman’s probing narrative leaves readers with plenty to ponder about human nature. Brown-skinned Eve and Adam are initially nude, though covered up by strategically placed hair, leaves, and bushes; upon eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, both become clothed.
Tender and thought-provoking. (author’s note) (Religious picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781681156965
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Apples & Honey Press
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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