This beautifully and imaginatively illustrated children's book provides an interesting take on religion and evolution. Mr and Mrs God are portrayed innovatively. ( )

Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen, is a brilliant story of how the earth was made. Mr. and Mrs. God try to create the most beautiful and safe place called earth. They start by creating the sun; it is made in their oven. Mr. and Mrs. God live in the space above everything else existing. Individually they have different ideas but together they create a masterpiece. ( )

I know that too many people will take a look at this book title and immediately want to remark on their opinion of creationists and evolution and religion and it will just get messy. I'm saying that this isn't that kind of book. I think this is just an opportunity for readers to laugh a little at this comedy of the heavenly version of the Honeymooners. More ancient Greek than Christian; Mr. God and Mrs. God are more Zeus and Hera than God times two. It's a funny picture book that basically encourages the reader to remember his or her sense of humor. Nice, short, and funny. ( )

This short picture book tells an interesting version of the Jewish/Christian creation story. The title gives you the premise: God is portrayed as a couple busy in their kitchen, cooking up new creations in some very large pots and pans. They start with planets and all is well. When they move on to creatures, there are some problems, and at one point Mrs God stops speaking to Mr God for a thousand years. Dinosaurs feature, also pelicans, blue whales, beautiful fish and eventually some primitive-looking human beings. The illustrations are rich, swirling, with a great sense of exciting things emerging from the creative process.

Not recommended for those who have a very literal understanding of the story-telling at the beginning of Genesis, but I enjoyed this little tale and could see it being enjoyed by young children. It might even open up some interesting discussions with children about whether God is male or female/both/neither, and about how we understand creation and evolution. ( )

Genre: Fantasy

Age appropriateness: intermediate, middle school

Media: Ink and Acrylic

Review: This is a good example of fantasy, because Mr. and Mrs. God create earth from their kitchen. They add animals and people to earth as well as have the ability to remove what they do not like or what they have made that was not good. ( )