Eve and Adam and their Very First Day

KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW

Everything is completely new and unknown on the first day of human existence.

Eve’s first day finds her thankful and unafraid. Not even the "brilliant ball of yellow burning above" worries her. She notices a two-legged creature, who seems friendly and calls himself Adam. Together they give names to everything they see. Eve considers Adam’s ideas for names—"dog," "cat," "ant"—somewhat boring, while hers are more interesting: "nightingale" and "strawberry," for instance. Perhaps it’s because God had some practice before he made her. Eve emerges as the more dominant of the two, but she finds Adam kind and beautiful. Relying on faith—and each other—the pair deal with the strangeness of everything, from rain to sundown and night to the miracle of sunrise on their second day. The familiar tale is told in the ancient Jewish tradition of midrash, a way of interpreting and enriching Bible stories. Kimmelman employs soaring, highly descriptive language imbued with gentle humor, imagination, wonder, and awe, brought to vivid life by Avgustinovich’s lush artwork. The brown-skinned duo are nude but covered up by Eve’s thick black hair and, in Adam’s case, a strategically placed leaf. Never demanding belief or denying science, this is a fresh take on the oldest interpretation of the beginning. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Gloriously beautiful and tender.(author’s note) (Religious picture book. 4-9) —KIRKUS REVIEWS

Leslie Kim­mel­man and Iri­na Avgusti­novich tell the sto­ry of Adam and Eve — but this time, the tale is recount­ed from Eve’s point of view as she encoun­ters God’s cre­ations for the first time. She names the ani­mals and all nat­ur­al phe­nom­e­na with her own cre­ative touch and encour­ages Adam to do the same. She keeps him calm and reas­sures him with opti­mism when they expe­ri­ence their first fright­en­ing sun­set and night­fall, when they are unsure whether there will be a sec­ond day of light. Eve’s deter­mi­na­tion to face the future with hope will inspire readers.

The mag­nif­i­cent col­or illus­tra­tions show the Gar­den of Eden in all its lush and lav­ish abun­dance. There is no snake in this gar­den — just the beau­ty of new expe­ri­ences and an appre­ci­a­tion of the world’s awe-inspir­ing wonder.

An author’s note to this mod­ern midrash teach­es young read­ers that while new things can be scary and uncom­fort­able, hav­ing faith in "your­self, in the peo­ple around you, or in God" can help you cope with life’s chal­lenges and uncer­tain­ties, and give you the con­fi­dence to antic­i­pate what tomor­row may bring. —JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL

In this frankly feminist book, another delightful offering from Kimmelman, the first man and woman explore their surroundings while naming animals and plants they encounter. Eve's names--nightingale, weeping willow, nine-banded armadillo--are initially more imaginative than Adam's, such as ant, cat, and dog. As rain begins to fall and the sun goes down, the wo learn to lean on each other and their faith in God. Avgustinovich's vivid portrayal of the Garden of Eden and Kimmelman's words are wonderful reminders to marvel at both the "ordinary and miraculous" around us every day. —HADASSAH MAGAZINE

On her very first day in the Garden of Eden, Eve (who is strong and inquisitive and not afraid of anything), meets Adam, who was made first and has a beautiful smile. Together, they wander the Garden giving names to things. Adam gives simple names. Eve prefers more imaginative ones. However, Day doesn’t last forever. The sun goes down. Night comes. Eve and Adam are nervous. It’s dark. They are new and have never seen night before. But they have faith and, together, they make it through. Kimmelman’s beautiful, lyrical language combines with Irina Augustinovich’s spectacularly sensitive illustrations to give readers a creative telling of Eve and Adam’s first day. The two have golden skin and wavy black hair, which can be interpreted as white, Asian, or Latinx. Eve's long hair, along with various elements of nature, are cleverly used to hide the couple's nakedness in an unforced manner.

This is a book about faith and about getting through tough moments (like when the sun disappears) and knowing, somehow, that things will be good once again. Eve and Adam is based on a Torah story that, to the best of this reviewer’s knowledge, originated with the Jewish people and subsequently entered the other Abrahamic religions. That makes it an authentically Jewish story. The book will probably resonate with all of the Abrahamic religions, with all strands of Judaism, perhaps even with all beliefs. It might even resonate with those who have no religious beliefs. An important book for all preschool libraries. Includes Author’s Note on the role that faith plays in the story… and in life. —SYDNEY TAYLOR SHMOOZE

"Eve and Adam and their Very First Day" by author/storyteller Leslie Kimmelman and artist/illustrated Irina Avgustinovich is unusual and imaginative retelling, the biblical story of creation as told from Eve's perspective. It explores what it might have been like emotionally for the world's first two people to experience everything for the very first time -- seeing and naming the animals; feeling the rain; fearing the night; becoming excited by the stars, and having faith that they are not alone.

Irina's lush and charming illustrations truly bring the wonder of the new world to life, while children will enjoy looking for the recurring cat and dog characters throughout the story.

This picture book story stops well before the infamous apple-eating scene, as the focus is instead on themes of curiosity, discovery, new experiences, handling fear, and having faith. Also featured is an Author's Note that further explores the nature of faith for young children.

Thoroughly 'kid friendly' with its theme of appreciating new experiences, "Eve and Adam and their Very First Day" is a unique, unusual, and unreservedly recommended pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections for children ages 4-7. —Midwest Book Review