When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us [Hardcover]

Julius Lester (Author), Emily Lisker (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

“This book is astonishing, daring, compelling, and confirms Lester’s preeminence among storytellers.”--Jane Yolen

If we weren’t there, how can we really know how the world began? Could it be that God even made a mistake or two when creating the world? Using Jewish legend and his own translations from the Book of Genesis, master storyteller Julius Lester has created a collection of Bible stories like no other. Written especially for readers who might not make their way to the stories of the Bible otherwise, these tales are a welcome opening to a glorious world that will touch the spirit of all readers--no matter what religion guides them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Working in the tradition of midrashim, or explorations of biblical texts, through the use of imagination and story, Lester (What a Truly Cool World) crafts a humorous, deeply personal and irreverent interpretation of the book of Genesis. His tales attempt to answer some of the questions unanswered by the biblical textAWhy did God stop what He was doing to create the world? How did the angels feel about it? Just why did that Snake tempt Woman to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?Ain order to lead readers "into a new experience of the Divine." The quotations from Genesis that open many of the 17 chapters (translated from the Hebrew by Lester) provide a framework from which the author riffs and improvises with abandon, throwing in a few pourquoi tales, an epic battle, God's ruminations about the process of creation and a lot of colloquial language and imagery (references to the Internet, business trips and peanut butter, to name just a few)Acreating a delicious pastiche of retelling in the process. Lisker's folk-art oil paintings (one per chapter) lack the humor of Lester's text, highlighting instead the abstract and, in the case of her depiction of Adam and Chavah, the sensual aspects of the tales. Although Lester's portrait of God as polymorphous and not always all-knowing may offend some, those readers able to adopt his attitude of playful engagement with the sacred will find much to entertain, much to amuse and much to challenge them in their thinking about faith and God. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-The continuing practice of midrash Aggadah-unrestrained narrative reflection on canonical Torah-is evidence of a living faith. Fundamentalist Christians may well be shocked by the liberties Lester takes with the God of Genesis: at various times he/she is black, female, embarrassed, uncertain, and wrong. But the point of these surprises is to make readers think afresh about the familiar stories. The reworkings stress the importance of gratitude for what we have, the role of error in the divine plan, the playfulness of creativity, the universality of human weakness, and the limitlessness of divine love. Adam's first mate, Lilith (the woman God makes from clay, in Genesis B), walks out when Adam refuses to compromise; God decides that women will have to be smarter than men. Elements from Jewish lore-the Re'em, Shamir, Ziz, Tehom, the importance of Torah-coexist with an angel called Moe the Angel of Bagels (but the cuteness quotient is tolerable). Satan is distinct from the Edenic Snake. The chapters on the Fall by themselves are worth the price of admission. In keeping with Jewish tradition, sin does not lie in disobedience but in the failure to accept responsibility; sexuality is a divine gift, a consolation for exile. In these later chapters, Lester's midrash is especially rich and thought-provoking. Lisker provides a full-page oil painting to accompany each entry; her images are as inventive and vibrant as the stories she illustrates. The source notes and bibliography are helpful.
Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (March 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152012389
• ISBN-13: 978-0152012380
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1939, Julius Lester spent his youth in the Midwest and the South and received a B.A. in English from Fisk University in 1960.Since 1968 he has published 25 books of fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and poetry. Among the awards these books have received are the Newbery Honor Medal, American Library Association Notable Book, National Jewish Book Award Finalist, The New York Times Outstanding Book, National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, Caldecott Honor Book, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and a National Book Award Finalist. His books have been translated into eight languages.He has published more than one hundred essays and reviews in such publications The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Op-Ed Page, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, The New Republic, Katallagete, Moment, Forward, and Dissent.He has recorded two albums of original songs, hosted and produced a radio show on WBAI-FM in New York City for eight years, and hosted a live television show on WNET in New York for two years. A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, his photographs of that movement are included in an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution and are part of the permanent photographic collection at Howard University.After teaching at the New School for Social Research for two years, Mr. Lester joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst in 1971 where he is presently a full professor in the Judaic and Near Eastern Studies Department, and adjunct professor in the English and History departments. He also serves as lay religious leader of Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.He has been awarded all four of the university's most prestigious faculty awards: The Distinguished Teacher's Award; the Faculty Fellowship Award for Distinguished Research and Scholarship; Distinguished Faculty Lecturer; and recipient of the Chancellor's Medal, the University's highest honor. In 1986 the Council for Advancement and Support of Education selected him as the Massachusetts State Professor of the Year.Mr. Lester's biography has appeared in Who's Who In America since 1970. He has given lectures and papers at more than 100 colleges and universities.His most recent books are John Henry, And All Our Wounds Forgiven, a novel about the civil rights movement, and Othello, a novel based on the Shakespeare play.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A master story-teller takes on Creation, March 27, 2000

By 

Reb Elias (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us (Hardcover)

Wearing simultaneously the hats of story-teller, dedicated scholar, and observant Jew, Professor Julius Lester has crafted an engaging clutch of stories which present the Bible's account of the world's creation. These stories use as their point of departure many of the "midrashim", the rabbinic stories of centuries past, which came into being to amplify and clarify what is sometimes only implicit in the text. He does so utilizing the same skills he has used so effectively before: humor, imaginative language, and a willingness to flirt with irreverence for the sake of opening the reader up to new possibilities to be found in this ancient recounting of how God brought the world and its creatures into being.

Rabbi Marc Gellman's excellent book, "Does God Have A Big Toe?", explores similar territory but Professor Lester's work lends itself especially well to oral presentation. The conversations amongst the minstering angels are hip, funny and thought-provoking, and will send readers of any religious persuasion back to the opening chapters of Genesis with eyes and minds opened wide. Emily Lisker's droll full-color illustrations do a lovely job of opening up the text even further.

This book will find a place of honor on my shelf, alongside others which serve as gateways to a deeper understanding of our Scriptural legacy.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning... A Very Good Place to Start (never finish!), August 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us (Hardcover)

When I first glanced through Julius Lester's take on creation I thought I would never read it through. I tend to view most retellings of Creation based on how they represent Eve and whether they allot any responsibility at all to Adam - and I was afraid that this book, like so many others, would fall short of my hopes. Then, as I began reading, I thought I loved it so much that it would be the easiest book I ever reviewed for anyone. Instead, the book forced me to explore so many facets of possibility - both of my own sense of God and how others might feel about the different aspects of this book - that it became a decidedly more complex task. Perhaps a book that raises more questions that it provides answers for is the greatest book of all - but that doesn't make it a simple task for the reviewer!

Julius Lester is an African American Jewish convert and as such he brings an amazingly fresh view of one of the best known Judeo-Christian tales. In his introduction he explains to parents and older children about the Jewish method of using stories to explore the realm of possibility between the sparse lines of sacred text. He encourages parents to omit sections they may not feel comfortable with, and he adds an element from Afro-American folklore: Lester's God is not necessarily all-knowing. He (sometimes she) is playful and makes mistakes, and a lot of things seem to happen by accident, including the discovery that he even has the ability to create.

Lester begins with God and the angels sitting alone in dark timelessness with nothing to do. Once God makes the discovery that his words produce results, not everything runs smoothly; there are animals who are disgruntled being who they are and Satan opens a school to teach angels how to clip the wings on others who are resting as well as how to sneak off to visit Earth without God knowing. He creates man and woman despite the warnings from some of the angels, and while I was at first concerned that the book might me misogynistic in regards to the eating of the forbidden fruit, Lester does a remarkable job of making the mistakes all around seem like obvious human realities - as well as making it clear that God continues to forgive and love and accept what he knew all along was going to happen.

Amidst the humor of the text are profound questions: Who is God? What is God? What do angels think? Why did God make the choices that he did? To some, both the humor and the questions may seem disrespectful - I even asked myself that question more than once throughout the book. Yet, in my own experience working through my thoughts and feelings, I felt a stronger sense of connection to the Divine in the universe and saw a million windows of opportunity in the conversations I would expect to have with my son as we read it together. Lester's work makes the exploration of religion come alive.

Parents would do well to pre-read this book and explore their own feelings and reactions - regardless of their religious background - not just to have a sense of how their own child would might react but to be prepared for the inevitable questions and commentary that any child will bring to this text. I see the mutual exploration of this book as an amazing opportunity for mutual growth and sharing, and as laying a foundation in searching the sacred and spiritual that can (as I believe it should) last a lifetime.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful retelling of Genesis for kids, February 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Beginning Began: Stories about God, the Creatures, and Us (Hardcover)

Julius Lester has succeeded where other authors have failed. He has successfully gotten the attention of my 9 year-old while at the same time using beautiful imagery and humor to tell Genesis to younger children who find standard bible stories dry and far from compelling. He should do one of Exodus. If he could retell Leviticus it would truly be a miracle!