First He Made the Sun

by Harriet Ziefert, Todd McKie (Illustrations)

Presents a rhyming rendition of the Genesis creation story in which God made the seas, the skies, and the creatures in six days and on the seventh day He rested to admire them. Reprint.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Religion

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[M.cholewick · Rating 3 out of 5]

First He Made The Sun is a creation story that derives from The Book of Genesis. It is a great book for young children familiar with God creating the world. I say this because throughout the book, "He" is used repeatedly, and the reader would need to understand that the "He" refers to God. Additionally, "Lord", "Creator”, and "God" are referenced. Overall, the book is brief and highlights the basic components of the creation story, in that "He" (God) created the sun, the moon, the animals, the first man, and took rest on the seven day to admire what he had done. What I liked most about this book was that in one section about the animals that "He" created, the reader is asked, "which ones do you like best?” I found this to be a great aspect of the book because it really is a great way to provide an interactive dialogue between the book, the reader, and perhaps the adult/parent reading this book with his or her child. One part that I did not like, and would consider a weakness of the book is when it discusses that "He" created the first man, Adam, and that Adam named all the animals. Perhaps it would not be question by young children reading this, but I would think that a more universal approach such as "He" created humans would be more appropriate. But, maybe this was a much easier and simplistic form of telling the story of creation. I would recommend this book for young children, within the primary grades. I think that the illustrations are a great asset to the story, and it would allow children to scan for and discuss the differing things that "He" created throughout the book.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the pictures. I felt like my 5 year old could have done just as well. And there were some liberties taken in the retelling.

[Ashton Irby · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable take on the story of creation in Genesis! Ziefert uses rhyme to add humor and awe to all the aspects of creation. It's very well done!

[Karyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice for rhymes. Not a full fledge creation story book, but has the main idea of God creating the world.