Customer Reviews

Before You Were Born

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a beautiful tale that is sure to captivate any child- or adult with a wonderful imagination. I appreciate the folktale in all of its Rabbic glory. That said, what made me completely unable to move my eyes from the pages were illustrator Kristina Swarner's beautiful images. They alone, are worth the price of the book. Stunning.

Before You Were Born is a beautiful retelling of a story from Jewish folk tradition. It is the story of a soul's journey from the Treasury of Souls in highest heaven to its earthly body in its mother's womb. The luminous illustrations are quite lovely and compliment the text nicely.

My children and I really enjoy reading this book together. Not only is it a beautiful story, complete with angels and folklore, but it is a perfect story for initiating conversations about souls and heaven.

What a wonderful book for children. The story is simple yet enthralling. The illustrations are amazing. We have a 5-month old son and he was captivated by the brilliant colors while mom and dad were captivated by the story, as well as the illustrations. This is the kind of book you will want to read to your child for many nights and years to come.

This beautiful children's book talks about the Kabbalist view of who you were before you were born. Your soul was taught about the unknown. It is our job to reThe Way: Using the Wisdom of Kabbalah for Spiritual Transformation and Fulfillmentcover all these mysteries during our lifetime so that we can return to the Creator and live in the Endless World with peace, love and happiness.

WHAT a beautiful book...the message is outstanding! Don't hestitate to purchase it...your recipient will thank you over and over.

This is a lovely retelling of an old story about the infinite wisdom we all hold inside ourselves, beautifully illustrated. What a great message for kids to be read at bedtime before they drift off to sleep. Thank you, Howard Schwartz for this and all your other books.

I was led to this book because of my love of Kristina Swarner's art. Her pictures very softly and very descriptively accompany this story. She has done a lot of work for the Jewish community, and although I am not Jewish or even particularly religous at all I thought this tale of how a child comes to be is really intersting and sweet.

Not wanting to upset anyone, I'll say that the story is described as a "midrash" (a Rabbinic legend) found in Midrash Tanhuma, first published in Constantinople in 1522. But for a non-Jewish non-religious person such as myself it is regarded, by me, as a very creative way to describe what happens while a baby is developing in the womb (a question often asked by children of ALL backgrounds). It involves angels, particularly the angel Lailah. Again, a creature easily described as mythical if you are from the non-religious set.

My favorite part, which will also capture little minds and send them spinning in wonderment because it brings the story so close to reality, is when the angel Lailah presses its finger over the newborn's lip and tells the baby to keep a secret -- thus leaving an indentation there. Every child in the world will reach up to their mouth at that point and feel their upper lip. I guarantee that!

This is a wonderful book for kids of every faith. The illustrations are stunning and are a perfect addition to Schwartz's poetic text. I've used this as a baby present for parents across the spectrum of beliefs and have heard wonderful responses to it. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

This is a retelling of an old Jewish folktale...it is not as rich as "On the Night You Were Born", which is positively lyrical and which I prefer as a baby gift, but it is beautifully illustrated.

I don't exactly know what I expected - maybe a narrative from parents to children about how dull and empty their lives were before the child came on the scene. Or about the pregnancy and anticipation, something like that. This surprised me. As a Christian, I decided against giving this to a couple in our church (my husband is a pastor) as a baby gift because - well, their question or assumption would be that this reflects Biblical teaching, and I can't say that it does. It's a touching story; as I read it to my 4-year old, I thought it was a little over her head still in some ways. It's a bit too abstract for kids' minds in my opinion. They take everything literally. Adults who know or learn about the Rabbinic legend behind it might find it more entertaining or intriguing because of that.