Let There Be Light

by Desmond Tutu, Nancy Tillman (Illustrator)

Overview

“In the very beginning, God’s love bubbled over when there was nothing else—no trees, no birds, no animals, no sky, no sea—only darkness.”

Let There Be Light combines the love and warmth of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu with the extraordinary talents of bestselling author and illustrator Nancy Tillman. This retelling of the biblical story of creation vividly portrays the wonder and beauty of God’s creation on each of the seven days. Using Archbishop Tutu’s lyrical text from the Children of God Storybook Bible and Tillman’s remarkable illustrations, Let There Be Light brings the story of creation to life for readers young and old.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310733966
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	12/02/2014
Pages:	30
Sales rank:	364,308
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 4 Years

About the Author

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his lifelong struggle to bring equality, justice, and peace to his native country of South Africa. He is the author of numerous books including the Children of God Storybook Bible, God’s Dream, and Desmond and the Very Mean Word. From 2007 to 2013, Tutu was the founding Chair of theElders, a group of global leaders who are working topromote the shared interests of humanity. In 2013he received the Templeton Prize for advancing spiritualprogress in the world. He lives in South Africa withhis wife, Leah. They have four children and sevengrandchildren.

Editorial Reviews

12/23/2013
Drawing text from Tutu's 2010 Children of God Storybook Bible, Tillman (On the Night You Were Born) imagines a cosmos called into being by a humanlike entity suffused with lights and clouds. The illustrator's luminous, photorealistic style adds an intriguing edge to Tutu's friendly theology. When he writes that "the first flower opened in all its glory," Tillman zooms in on a daffodil with delicately veined petals and a cup filled with the almost blinding radiance of God; a reference to the creation of "cats and mice" on the sixth day inspires a painting of a lion and white mice that has the physicality of a museum diorama. As is often the case in books of this genre, the appearance of humans is something of a letdown: multicultural children are shown wearing glowing crowns and what appears to be a combination of native dress and Sunday School pageant costumes. Tutu is more original and eloquent: "I will make people, and I'll make them like me so they can enjoy the earth and take care of it." Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

03/01/2014
PreS-Gr 4—Archbishop Tutu's version of the creation story first appeared in his Children of God Storybook Bible (Zonderkids, 2010). The retelling of the first chapter of Genesis is both accessible and poetic, with the emphasis being on God's love. Tillman, best known for her "You Are Loved" trilogy (Feiwel and Friends), brings her signature style to the digitally rendered illustrations. The colors are bright yet misty, with no sharp edges or lines to be found, resulting in a dream-like atmosphere. Her renderings of wild animals are particularly well executed, and a keen observer will find images hiding in clouds. When people appear, they all wear crowns, a conceit that Tillman employed in The Crown on Your Head (Feiwel & Friends, 2011) that may prove puzzling to those unfamiliar with the earlier work. It's a lovely book, suitable for larger collections where religious material is in high demand.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal

2013-11-02
Abstract washes of light give way to equally lambent peaceable-kingdom scenes to illustrate Tutu's rhapsodic retelling of the Bible creation story. Drawn from his Children of God Storybook Bible (2010), the author's simply phrased text highlights God's love—which "bubbled over when there was nothing else"—as the motivating force behind each day's acts of creation. The indistinct shape of a robed, standing figure can be discerned within the initial burst of radiance and also in later illustrations amid clouds and waves, at the heart of a flower and in the subtly modulated colors of various skies. Along with showers of sparkles in some scenes, Tillman recycles a visual element from her own The Crown on Your Head (2011) by clapping shiny crowns atop the heads of a racially diverse group of smiling children in the final illustrations. Further piling on the sentimentality, she transforms the magnificent, exactly detailed elephants, lions and other animals that pose grandly in earlier pictures to toylike figures at the children's feet. "Isn't it wonderful!" concludes God, clapping his hands. Yes, but here the wonder comes with a generous coating of goo. (Religion/picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews