A Beautiful World is an eye-catching, captivating book that overflows with interactivity. Renowned Israeli artist, Paul Kor, populated the book with grinning, whimsical creatures that children delight in exploring and labeling. Yael Gover’s rhyming text not only encourages listeners to chime in with rhyming words, but it continually asks questions (“What is missing?”, “What can I add?”, “Which colors should I pick?”), prodding listeners to envision themselves as artists who are using a magical paintbrush to create the world.
The book closely mirrors the Biblical story of Creation, where God begins with a blank slate and then fills it with light, water, sky, land, trees, sun, birds, fish, animals, and finally humans. To reinforce the Biblical message that humans are responsible for safeguarding the world, the book concludes with a shimmery mirror, prompting readers to view themselves as vital protectors of their vast, wonderful universe.
In addition to its rich Biblical roots and engaging format, A Beautiful World connects to Israel in several unique ways. In 2019, PJ Library’s sister program in Israel, Sifriyat Pijama, and its companion program, Maktabat al-Fanoos, shared 200,000 copies of this book with Hebrew and Arabic-speaking school children. In 2022, Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe took a copy of A Beautiful World to a space station and read it aloud (in its original Hebrew) to kids back on Earth, transforming this outstanding book into a truly “out of this world” story that our Book Selection Committee can’t wait to share with families.
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October 1, 2023