God in Between [Hardcover]

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso (Author), Sally Sweetland (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1998 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

From award-winning author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso comes a new story to delight children and adults from all faiths and backgrounds. This is the magical, mythical tale of a poor village at the foot of a hill--a topsy-turvy town with no roads and no windows, where the people sneeze through tall weeds and trip over rocks as big as watermelons. Surely God would help them, they decide. But "how" can God be found? The story, grounded in Jewish wisdom, teaches that God can be found where we are.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Explaining the presence of God to children is often a monumental task, and Sasso's (God's Paintbrush) puzzling picture book isn't likely to clarify the concept. The setting is a strange town where windowless houses are scattered among tangled weeds, rocks and shrubbery The citizens become frustrated with their lot, with no view from their homes and no roads on which to explore their surroundings. One townswoman suggests that they seek God, a being rumored to be the solver of all problems. The community decides that a man and a woman who live just outside town, each in a house with a window, should lead the search. The Ones Who Could See Out Windows scour the countryside to no avail and eventually reunite, realizing that "God is wherever we are God is in the between. In between us." Young readers will likely be confused by Sasso's vague explanation and will find it very difficult to believe that the crew of contemporary-looking adults here could not organize an effort to build roads or windows. Sweetland's creamy, impressionistic paintings match the solemn mood of the text. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-With the biblical verse 1 Kings 11-12 as a jumping-off point, Sasso presents a parable about a small town's search for God. There are no roads and none of the houses have windows so the inhabitants decide to look for God to solve their problems. At the edge of town are two homes, each with one window, and the people who live inside are called the Ones Who Could See Out Windows. This man and woman are each sent in search of God. Their journeys to a mountaintop, the deepest ocean, the driest desert, and the darkest cave are unsuccessful. Sadly, the two meet up, tell each other about their futile travels, and return home. Then they begin to help one another put in more windows and clear a road between their two houses. When the confused townspeople point out that they had never been able to do these things before, the Ones Who Could See Out Windows explain that God is "wherever we are...in the between. In between us." Parents in search of a totally nondenominational explanation of God that stresses that people should lend a helping hand to their neighbors will find this useful. The full-page pastel paintings present a multicultural community and a glowing vision of the discovery.
Susan Pine, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing; First Edition edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879045869
• ISBN-13: 978-1879045866
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, March 28, 2007

By 

Rita A. Colotti (Chandler, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God in Between (Hardcover)

This book is a great tool to help children and adults both to recognize the presence of God everywhere in everyone. Through our faith God can make all things possible.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God is everywhere, right!, June 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: God in Between (Hardcover)

Sandy tells the tale of village with no roads or windows. Thepeople think that God is miss and find God and then they would haveroads and windows. So the send two people who have windows in their homes to find God. They search and search but don't find God, but the people change and realize in the building of roads and windows that God is everywhere. This story can be love by all but I feel works very well with older children and youth. Great pictures also.