Amy-Jill Levine

With self-deprecating humor, a knowledge of both Jewish and Christian explications of the sacred Scriptures and clear prose, Dr. Levine illuminates the Sermon on the Mount in this short book. I am not a beginner in the Sermon on the Mount but I found her insights and her references to the Jewish Bible and tradition clarified and expanded my understanding of Matthew 5 - 7 and, incidentally, the entire Gospel of Matthew. This is the first of Levine's books I have read but it will not be the last.

As a Christian lay minister (Church of England) I found this challenging and compelling, but an absolute delight. Challenging because although the authors do their level best to be plain spoken, much of the Jewish terminology was new to me. In the early chapters I had to go back and re-read something, some things several times. Compelling because it was great to see the whole Bible (old and new testaments in Christian-speak) from this new perspective, and to understand how the Jewish bible show more is understood and interpreted in Judaism - especially the rich entanglement of the Tanakh and the Talmud, terms entirely new to me. Makes me almost wish to have been a thelogian!
What we need now is a similar treatise that includes Islam - sadly not yet a feasible prospect. show less

Really nice illustrations in this. Different animals and people argue over who is loved most by god, good for pre-schoolers. The style and flow of the book is much better than a lot of similar titles I've seen.

A Very Big Problem by Amy-Jill Levine and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Annie Bowler, imagines what each group within God’s creation—from the dirt to the worms to the birds and the children—might have thought about one another and God’s love for each of them. Does God love the land the most because the land was there first? Or maybe God loves birds the best because they spread seeds so God’s garden can grow and prosper? Just as children sometimes worry about whether they show more matter and whether they have to make a fuss to be seen and loved, each member of God’s creation in A Very Big Problem does the same.

The book is a good length to read to children in one sitting. The illustrations are lovely and diverse. The book almost brings the song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” to life with children in various shades of white and brown, black and Asian. Likewise the diversity of birds, from blue jays to peacocks, and the diversity of quadrupeds (yes, some vocabulary words are sneaked in—but don’t worry, they are defined within the text without impeding the story flow) shows visually what the text teaches: there is a place in God’s creation for all and God loves all without playing favorites based on size or strength or who came first. I almost wished that the land (which brags that it was first) was as diverse as the creatures; just as children come in many colors so does soil. But it is a minor missed opportunity in an otherwise lovely book.

The text ends with peace as each member of creation realizes that all are loved. It is the perfect bedtime story because it ends calmly, with everyone drifting off to a restful slumber.

After the story, a parent note explains that the book is midrash—a type of story that imagines the gaps in other stories—based on the biblical book of Genesis. The parents’ guide also makes space for asking children all sorts of questions beyond the text and the illustrations are full of opportunities to tell this story over and over again in slightly different ways each time. A Very Big Problem is appropriate for both Christian and Jewish audiences. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

(Disclaimer: I do know Amy-Jill Levine personally as a former student of hers at Vanderbilt however she did not influence my review of this book.)

--Indie Pereira show less