Cynthia Rylant is the author of more than 100 books for young
people, including the beloved Henry and Mudge, Annie and Snowball,
Brownie & Pearl, Motor Mouse, and Mr. Putter & Tabby series. Her
novel Missing May received the Newbery Medal. She lives
in Portland, Oregon.
Marla Frazee is the recipient of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for
Picture Book and a three-time Caldecott Honor winner. She has
illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including All the
World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Stars by Mary Lyn
Ray, and Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, as well as
her own Farmer Books trilogy, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week
Ever, and The Boss Baby, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation
film. She is also the illustrator of the New York
Times bestselling Clementine chapter books by Sara
Pennypacker. The mother of three grown sons, she lives in Pasadena,
California. Visit her at MarlaFrazee.com.
* “Several of the poems from Rylant’s wry meditation God Went to
Beauty School (2003) are regathered, rearranged and luminously
illustrated by Frazee…. Frazee’s illustrations take the idea of the
multiplicity of God in all of us and run with it…. Divinity is
indicated with a faint halo, but Frazee never sacrifices the
ineffable humanity of each depiction; her Gods are fat, skinny,
joyful, contemplative, worn-out…. Funny, devout and oh, so human;
this collection hits home.”
*Kirkus Reviews, April 10, 2013, *STARRED REVIEW*
"Sixteen poems from Rylant’s God Went to Beauty School (2003)
return in a new collection, accompanied by new artwork from Frazee,
whose graphite-and-gouache illustrations are ideally attuned to the
poems’ moments of irreverent humor and poignant reflection. In
several images, Frazee portrays God as a child.... Rylant and
Frazee’s visions of God as a trucker delivering a fan letter to a
country music singer, an ostensibly homeless woman walking through
a gorgeous gothic church, and a dadlike fellow in plaid pajamas and
slippers sipping coffee under an apple tree combine to form a
celebration of God’s humanity and mankind’s divinity."
*Publishers Weekly, August 2013*
* "An award-winning author and illustrator team up to create a
lyrical celebration of where the divine meets the mundane, and
ultimately what it means to be human. In this small book of poetry,
God decides to “try out” different activities and experiences of
humanity, and the results are by turns thought-provoking and
inspiring. Each of the 15 poems is coupled with a quietly
incandescent illustration that supports the text but doesn’t
overwhelm it or diminish its impact. Taken from the author’s longer
collection God Went to Beauty School (HarperCollins, 2003), this
slimmed down, repackaged version brilliantly captures its sweetness
and substance but provides a simpler progression and arc.
Selections alternate pronouns for the deity, with God referred to
as He or She in each poem.... While this title might be
controversial...it will appeal to a wide audience of both children
and adults. This is one book that’s easy to pick up, but hard to
put down again."
*School Library Journal, November 2013, *STARRED REVIEW*
* "Oh, God. As this book so intriguingly suggests, You do come in
many shapes and sizes. Colors, too. But more than what the deity
looks like, this slim volume of 15 poems focuses on what God
does.... The messages aren’t always immediately clear, but that’s
what makes this so much fun. Seeing God in new ways allows children
to think about their relationship to Him or Her differently. In
this interpretation, God and humans are co-creators of an evolving
world. Though the poetry has been published before in a collection,
the artwork is all new. Frazee’s pictures, each facing a page of
text, are a powerful contrast of light and darkness, restlessness
and contentment. God didn’t think she had time for a dog. But she
got one anyway."
*Booklist, November 2013, *STARRED REVIEW*
"By imagining God’s experiences with such earthly undertakings as
making spaghetti, catching a cold, working a desk job, writing a
fan letter, and yes, adopting a stray dog, Cynthia Rylant and Marla
Frazee have created a lovely and accessible collection of
illustrated free-verse poems exploring God’s love and humanity...a
beautiful collection which celebrates life and approaches the idea
of God with sincerity and respect...very highly recommended."
*VOYA, December 2013*
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