Customer Reviews

God Went to Beauty School (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards))

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The first Cynthia Rylant book I ever read was the picture book, "When I Was Young In the Mountains". The story was not long or drawn out, and the words in the books were simple and pure. You might expect that in a picture book anyway, but there's a difference between saying what you want clearly and directly and simply being brief. Rylant never says any more nor less than she has to. It's a talent that has served her well in the past and made possible the succinct eloquence that is, "God Went to Beauty School".

I don't know if this book is profane or the holiest collection of poems I've ever read. I think maybe it's a little of both. Unabashedly Christian (with nods of the head to Buddhism) the book is a series sweet simple views of how God goes about His day. 23 poems in all, the book shows God getting a dog, ordering a couch from Pottery Barn, seeing a movie, and so on. These are small vignettes that take a what-if stance and enjoy what they conjure up. The great danger of the book, I suppose, was that it might fall into that old, "What If God Was One of Us", trap. Some could argue that this book is unnecessary if you believe that Jesus was already God. Rylant anticipates this point in the final longest poem, "God Died".

The book is simultaneously funny and touching. I have heard that Bible study groups use the poems to study. That groups of people without religion will ponder the poems line by line. The nicest poem in the group is, to my mind, "God Went to India". I have heard that people have read this poem at funerals. That it encompasses something in all of us, touching us deeply, revealing the truth that everything changes from one thing into another. The book is small and it does not impose itself upon you. It invites you to read it and whether you love it or hate it, it will not attempt to convert you one way or another. It is a book to love.

So what would happen if God came down to earth, took the form of man, and decided to experience, first-hand, so many of the mundane things that humans do on a day-to-day basis? Would he be bored? Would he gain insights? What would happen at beauty school?

Well, according to Cynthia Rylant, God would paint all the nails any color He wanted, then say, "Beautiful," and mean it. He would get a dog, go across the water (in a boat this time), buy a couch from Pottery Barn, take a bath (with his clothes on because he's shy), and even become a girl for a while.

How readers respond to this book of poems depends entirely upon their open-mindedness and creativity. It would be easy to be offended by Rylant's position that God would enjoy trying on these human moments for a while (is that blasphemy?) or one could just as easily appreciate the novelty of the idea and enjoy hearing God's confusion at what he should do in order to better understand man.

Either way, these poems are fresh and unique, and they cause the reader to think about life in ways that were perhaps ignored before. There is a spirituality in this writing, something that causes self-reflection and stir up some interesting discussions.

I picked this book up at the insistence of our school librarian and I will always be grateful I did. The humor and poignancy within these pages transcend mere religion and get under your skin very quickly. Underneath the humor are so many truths and ideas that this book could be reread many times with new perceptions emerging every time. It's not just a YA book; it's an "everybody" book! Highly, highly recommended.

This poetry about placing god in "mundane" situations, dealing with them as if a mere human, is not only whimsical/fanciful. I implore you to read the poems multiple times (preferably after giving them some time to sink in) if they initially strike you as this shallow. Mrs. Ryant verses far transcends the trite, flippant or ... rolls eyes... blasphemous. These poems are refreshing, as they creatively hit the bullseye of imbuing everyday situations with godliness. There is plenty of genuine humor thinking about something traditionally associated with omnipotence becoming a nail stylist, having difficulty with credit card companies, or about owning a dog. And if a book can get across some genuine spiritual lessons to me all the while making me chuckle, if not outright laugh... it's worth having.

But, He/She is!! And that's the point of these radiant, glowing, fun and oh, so totally enlightening poems. I read the book in one sitting and then read it aloud to my husband. He's not a poetry person, but even he loved these poems.

Here are the titles to some of the poems:

God Went To Beauty School

God Got a Dog

God Got in a Boat

God Bought a Couch

God Made Spaghetti

God Went to the Doctor (loved this one! The line, "And God said, well you're pretty good at playing me, I figured you'd know what the problem was," had me rolling with laughter.)

God Got Arrested

God Woke Up

God Took a Bath

God Went Rollerblading

God Caught a Cold

God Saw a Movie

God Wrote a Book

God Got Cable

God Found God

Suffice it to say that this will be the best $5 bucks you spend this week if you buy this amazing little book of poems and they'll have you smiling, nodding, calling your best friend to read them to her and maybe even your mother & kids. Each and every one of her poems is great and delights to the max. Buy this book, no buy several copies so you can share them. I know I'll be buying more, for sure!

Very short, sweet, and thought provoking.

I read this aloud to two of my friends in a half hour. It caught their attention, it made them laugh, it made them think, and I even reccommended it to my dad. It's only 56 pages, but it is so interesting and I think that if you want to think you should read it. It's written in story poems, too, so it's even shorter than you may think.

An uplifting book of 23 original and creative poems that will make you smile! This book is a quick read, but thought provoking enough to read again and again. Rylant's creativity and humor make it enjoyable. Don't miss it.

Although I'm not a believer in God, I was in the school library a few days ago during one of my study halls and saw this book on one of the shelves and grabbed for it right away. The title, God Went to Beauty School, is very quirky...it captivated me. I stood there, read the first 10 or so pages, and was hooked. It was a quick, breezy read-I finished it in about 20 minutes-but worthy of your time nonetheless. The simplicity of the poems have an appeal that's hard to describe, yet I would immediately reccommend it to anyone. God Went to Beauty School is thought provoking, with poems about God as though He were a real, true person. My favorite poem was the one about God buying a couch at Pottery Barn and them not accepting his credit card because they didn't believe he lived in Heaven. Read this one...you'll love it forever!

I loved the whole idea of God being "normal", that he had a cold, that he would like someone else to have dinner with (because communion is just not the same as having dinner) I read this twice, smiled, thought, grinned, giggled. what a neat way of humanizing the Man Upstairs!

God Went to Beauty School is a very short and easy read. Although it is short it teaches us lessons about God and how he is almost exactly like us except the part of him being all powerful. God loves and he dislikes. He can shop and he can watch television. He loves dogs and all living animals.
I really liked this book because i didnt think any one thought of God like that. I didnt really think God could be like that. I thought God would be a powerful man beyond human understanding. This book teaches you that all though someone may be powerful they are still like us. God did model us from him, to be in his image so why shouldnt we have similar personalities. This book showed me a new image of god i hadnt seen before.