In the Beginning is a seemingly simple board book that’s chock full of features guaranteed to delight the youngest of listeners and their grown-ups. Author and illustrator Natalia Emanuel populates her book with bold black-and-white images that are well suited to newborns’ developing eyes. Not only are high-contrast images fun to look at, but they also strengthen babies’ eyesight while boosting concentration skills.
As little ones study the book’s illustrations, grown-ups might notice that the book closely follows the progression of events described in the Biblical story of creation. Emanuel uses repetition and succinct phrases (Day one, Day two, Day three) and short nouns (birds, fish, stars, moon) to describe what was formed on each day of creation.
Listening to it read aloud, older babies might be encouraged by the book’s simple text to chime in. The book’s final picture depicting Shabbat rest, with a lamb snuggled next to a wolf, is sure to generate excitement, pointing, and possibly a few animal sounds. This dramatic image is based on the Biblical verse “The wolf shall lie down with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6), a passage that imagines an era of peace and tranquility. We hope families will find In the Beginning to be an enriching, timely, and captivating book that young children will clamor to read again and again.
September 1, 2024