Review: In the Beginning
In the Beginning: My Storybook Bible
by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, illustrated by César Garcés
Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishers), 2024
Category: Picture Books
Reviewer: Dena Bach
Buy at Bookshop.org
In the beginning of “In the Beginning,” the author, Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, encourages young readers to “Jump right in!” — challenging kids to make the first books of the Hebrew bible their own by listening and imagining. Included in this introduction to the Torah are the familiar, child-friendly stories — creation, Noah’s ark, the beginnings of the Jewish people with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his children, the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, until Moses brings them to them promised land. Some stories are expanded with details from outside of the Torah text to make them more familiar or relatable. For example, in the Torah, Noah’s wife, Naamah, is not named, but here she is the first to feel a raindrop before the flood. These details help create a more emotional journey than is presented in the Torah. While the basic outlines of the Torah stories are told, parts that could lead to more difficult discussions, such as the reason for the flood, or the tenth plague, are not included. The illustrations are spare, leaving lots of space for imagination, and are reminiscent of Renaissance biblical paintings in the style and color of the clothing. The main characters wear blue or red, which distinguishes them from other characters and from the browns and greens of the background, and points to the cultural, historical associations of these colors with holiness.
The text is long for the younger readers that it seems aimed at, but it is well-suited for the author’s goal — a collaboration between the child reader and the parent or educator to bring the stories to life. In the back matter are suggestions for how to use these stories as a jumping off point for discussion or creative play. Though these are the stories of the Jewish people, they are suitable for non-Jews as well. For Jewish readers, the book can be a fine way to get children engaged the stories of their culture and with the weekly Torah portion.
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Reviewer Dena Bach studied Illustration at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has an MA/MFA in Children’s Literature and Writing for Children from Simmons University. Currently the illustration editor of The Shmooze, she has worked as a bookseller, bookkeeper, fine artist, calligrapher, illustrator, writer, and a teacher of children from ages two to fourteen. She is currently channeling her middle grade self, working on an illustrated novel based on her father’s 11-year-old life, when he shared an apartment with a reformed mobster who had been Al Capone’s cellmate.
In the beginning of “In the Beginning,” the author, Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, encourages young readers to “Jump right in!” — challenging kids to make the first books of the Hebrew bible their own by listening and imagining. Included in this introduction to the Torah are the familiar, child-friendly stories — creation, Noah’s ark, the beginnings of the Jewish people with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his children, the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, until Moses brings them to them promised land. Some stories are expanded with details from outside of the Torah text to make them more familiar or relatable. For example, in the Torah, Noah’s wife, Naamah, is not named, but here she is the first to feel a raindrop before the flood. These details help create a more emotional journey than is presented in the Torah. While the basic outlines of the Torah stories are told, parts that could lead to more difficult discussions, such as the reason for the flood, or the tenth plague, are not included. The illustrations are spare, leaving lots of space for imagination, and are reminiscent of Renaissance biblical paintings in the style and color of the clothing. The main characters wear blue or red, which distinguishes them from other characters and from the browns and greens of the background, and points to the cultural, historical associations of these colors with holiness.
The text is long for the younger readers that it seems aimed at, but it is well-suited for the author’s goal — a collaboration between the child reader and the parent or educator to bring the stories to life. In the back matter are suggestions for how to use these stories as a jumping off point for discussion or creative play. Though these are the stories of the Jewish people, they are suitable for non-Jews as well. For Jewish readers, the book can be a fine way to get children engaged the stories of their culture and with the weekly Torah portion.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
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