Let There Be Light

by Desmond Tutu, Nancy Tillman (Illustrator)

Overview

Let There Be Light combines the extraordinary talents of Nancy Tillman, the New York Times bestselling author of On the Night You Were Born, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu in this retelling of the biblical story of creation. The pairing of Archbishop Tutu’s lyrical text from The Children of God Storybook Bible and Tillman’s wondrous illustrations bring the pages of this book to life for readers young and old.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310733973
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	01/07/2014
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 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. In 1986, he was elected Archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the Anglican Church in Southern Africa. Today Archbishop Tutu chairs the Elders, an independent group of global leaders working to promote the shared interests of humanity. In 2009 Tutu received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. He is known for his great love for children, as well as his powerful and profound understanding of the message of Jesus Christ. The Archbishop lives in South Africa with his wife, Leah. They have four children and seven grandchildren. SPANISH BIO: El Arzobispo Desmond Tutu fue galardonado con el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 1984 por su prolongada lucha a favor de la igualdad, justicia, y paz en Sudafrica, su pais natal. En 1986, Tutu fue elegido Arzobispo de Ciudad del Cabo, el mas alto puesto en la Iglesia Anglicana de Sudafrica. En la actualidad, al Arzobispo Tutu preside los Ancianos, un grupo independiente de lideres globales dedicados a fomentar los intereses comunes de la humanidad. En el 2009 Tutu recibio la Medalla Presidencial a la Libertad, la mayor condecoracion civil otorgada por los Estados Unidos de America. el es conocido por su gran amor hacia los ninos, asi como por su poderoso y profundo discernimiento del mensaje de Jesucristo. El Arzobispo reside en Sudafrica con su esposa Leah, con la que comparte cuatro hijos y siete nietos

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