Ecclesiastes: To Everything There Is a Season

by Cynthia Rylant

In the spirit of her acclaimed Dog Heaven and Cat Heaven , Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant illustrates verses from the King James Bible chapter of Ecclesiastes in a simple yet powerful folk art style.

Cynthia Rylant takes the familiar text of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, as told in the King James Bible, and lovingly illustrates it in her simple but bold style that has been called “stunning” by School Library Journal . As she did with the creation story, Rylant has created a sublime take on a classic story that will appeal to readers of all ages.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Kids, Faith

40 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2018

About the author

Cynthia Rylant is an American author, poet, and librarian whose deeply felt books for children and young adults have made her one of the most beloved voices in contemporary literature. Writing across picture books, novels, short stories, nonfiction, and poetry, she has published more than one hundred works, many of them rooted in memory, family, solitude, and the emotional landscapes of ordinary life. Her fiction often draws from her upbringing in West Virginia and reflects the textures of Appalachian life with unusual tenderness and clarity.
Raised in modest circumstances, Rylant spent much of her childhood with her grandparents in a rural setting that later became central to her imagination as a writer. Those early years, marked by hardship as well as warmth, shaped the emotional honesty and quiet resilience that define her work. She later studied English and library science, and after working as a waitress, librarian, and teacher, she began publishing books inspired by the world she had known so intimately.
Among her most acclaimed works are Missing May, which received the Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, a Newbery Honor Book. She also earned Caldecott Honors for When I Was Young in the Mountains and The Relatives Came. For younger readers, she became especially well known through the enduring Henry and Mudge series, as well as other popular books and series that combine gentleness, humor, and emotional depth.
Rylant's writing is distinguished by its compassion for lonely, searching, or overlooked characters, and by its reverence for animals, nature, and small human connections. Whether writing about grief, wonder, childhood, or belonging, she brings a lyrical simplicity that resonates across generations. Her books continue to offer comfort, recognition, and beauty to readers of all ages. She remains a singular literary presence in children's literature and beyond today.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful first rendering of Ecclesiastes. Always makes me think of Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds. I think that it is so important to read about religion; even if you do not believe in that particular text; we all need to make an effort to understand each other. Religion often can help us understand the perspective of a culture - and that is always a great first step in peaceful coexistence.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cynthia Rylant's spare and simple illustration of this familiar passage from Ecclesiastes;

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Bright watercolors used sort of in the manner of a small child's simple paintings to underscore the simple truths here. I liked it, maybe wanted it to be even more beautiful, but I was affected by it because the words are beautiful and profound and I had this song in my head the whole time, of course.

The Byrds performing Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn" live in the sixties:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA2IY...

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent picture book to introduce Ecclesiastes to very young children. The pictures are like a child's painting, so very familiar and recognizable for a young reader. Excellent!

[Ammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We will use this to memorize this passage. Using Picture Books to help memorize longer passages has worked so well for us and I highly recommend it.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much read, as read by someone for us at a staff meeting. As administrator of a large church with many ministries, when our preschool director leads our staff meetings, things like this come up.

This Ecclesiastes passage, so familiar in faith and popular culture, finds a home in this wonderfully paced telling with images for young children. There is a time... and each page allows some reflection (time) with each season!

The graphics, however, are a bit rough. There is some great subtlety in the pictures, but you really have to work to find it. There are also some pictures which simply seem to lack reflection on the passage.

The book and pacing - 5 stars!
The pictures - a mix averaging 3 stars.
The time spent with young children - beyond the measure of stars! ;-)

[Angie Quantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spare, beautiful.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rylant illustrates the Ecclesiastes with large full page colorful illustrations that bring the verses alive.

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice book, illustrating the verses of Ecclesiastes so they're understandable to a small child. (Unfortunately, it looks like the illustrations were done by a member of the target audience.)

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple & lovely

[Slaa!!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

So lovely!

[Dana Storytime Account · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the simplistic paintbrush style of illustration that accompanies one of the most well known bible passages.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet little retelling of God's times and seasons. Part of a series.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

The text has been edited--for better or worse--by Cynthia Rylant. The text is drawn from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11a. I'm using the King James Version which Rylant mostly relies upon.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace... He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.

She does tack on "And the earth abides forever" from Ecclesiastes 1:4.

Each two page spread has a few words from Ecclesiastes.

To be honest, "Turn, Turn, Turn" by The Byrds is more faithful to the original text. In that it does not subtract from the original text. It does add an, "I swear it's not too late." But it does not subtract chunks of verses.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace... He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like a total crank for giving this only one star, but the illustrations are muddy-looking and unattractive, and Cynthia Rylant tacked on her own line, "And the earth will endure forever," after quoting directly from Ecclesiastes 3 over the rest of the book. This line is not in the original poetry, and nor does it align with Christian doctrine. This was simply her attempt to come up with a satisfying conclusion to the book, but she deceptively presents it as text from the Bible when it is absolutely not.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 would have been an appropriate ending, so I shall conclude my review by quoting it in the KJV translation that she used. "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end."

[Danielle]

Simple presentation of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. Focuses on the theme of God's creation and beauty, so not exactly a summary of the book of Ecclesiastes. However, beautiful illustrations provide thoughtful reflection.

[Gwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I should have read the description before reading the book (although I guess if I had been a good catholic growing up I would have known Ecclesiastes was something from the bible...)

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

To everything there is a season...

Quick and simple book about this excerpt from Ecclesiastes.

[Bethe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept hearing the song by the Byrds while reading this. Not quite up to usual Rylant standard illustrations, blurry, muddy, and seemingly unfinished.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

GORGEOUS illustrations!

[Angela De Groot · Rating 3 out of 5]

A companion picture book to Nativity and Creation. Ecclesiastes shows with graceful text and childlike art the many stages of life.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Oliver]

My mom loves this book.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture book. Love the colors and paintings.

[Stephen Troutner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scripture illustrated for children 👏🏻 - how lovely

[Viviana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4-5 stars

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The color contrast between the words and the pages makes the book unreadable, sadly.

[Kari Schooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 5 year old found this at the library. We loved the illustrations. Simple but meaningful text.