A Very Big Problem is a delightful little picture book. The story of creation is told through the lens of an age-old problem,: our ego. We all want to be the most important.

This story has the potential to lead to great conversation with your little one. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is relatable.

The publisher made a copy of this book available for review via Netgalley. This is my honest review.

I love Amy-Jill Levine and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, and they did not disappoint with A Very Big Problem! They use midrash to tell the story of creation. Each creation wants to be the best, but God reveals the big secret—each creation is interdependent! It's a great way of exploring creation and creation care with kids. The art is lovely; the story is delightful.

I like the nicely coloured illustrations and the story. It would make a good night time story cause it is quick to read and fun.

This one was really sweet, despite all the arguing. I love how it once again emphasizes a message that we all heard as children, that God loves us. But this time, I love how it used all the animals and all the creations in a way to show that God loves all the things he created. This is a wonderful read.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a picture book of a biblical story. good illustrations, not my cup of tea.

This beautifully illustrated children's book caught my attention on NetGalley, so I read it with my three-year-old grandson. We both loved the illustrations and I can see that this would be a valuable book to explore the subjects of cooperation and fairness. The notes at the end are helpful as they show the intentions of the author in using the Mishrahim model for storytelling. This is not, however, a biblically correct picture of the Garden of Eden. God created all things and pronounced them very good. There was no sense of unfairness in the garden until Satan entered and tempted Eve.

Thank you to Flyaway Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is a great children's book that talks about love, fairness, differences, and equality. It is a religious book but can be the jumping off point for so many more topics than that. I think this will make an excellent addition to the religion section of the children's collection of a library. "Fair" is a frequent word for children and I think the word choices will resonate with them.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A nice addition to the many picture books that play with with the biblical accounts of creation from two authoritative voices. This book would be an excellent anchor for conversations about teamwork, God's love, ecological responsibility, or getting along with a younger sibling. Very suitable for a children's time in worship, Sunday School class, or Bible camp setting.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Amy-Jill Levine, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, and Flyaway Books through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this book about fairness and love. This book will teach kids that it doesn’t matter who came first, what your strengths and weaknesses are, or how beautiful you are, God loves everyone the same. I found the note to parents and educators quite informative as well as it talks about midrash, I had never heard of that before, so I learned something new today!

I received an electronic ARC from Flyaway Books through NetGalley.
Beautiful illustrations provide the framework for this story about Creation. As each part of the garden is created, they think they are the best. This continues from the land through the children God made. At the end, God shares how special each of his creations are and they return to living in harmony and peace.
Levine and Sasso write about conflicts that may have occurred and lets readers think through their own viewpoints. They can relate this story to their own experiences and think through what they believe. Terrific family or church school read-aloud as adults can listen and ask open ended questions to support faith growth.

This is an adorable children's book based on the creation of the Earth and the premise that God's love is big enough to love everyone. I love the message in this story and the illustrations are adorable. I do appreciate the story that is being portrayed, that no matter what you are that makes you special (created first, strongest, fastest) that we are all important and we all are interconnected and God loves us all.

I will say that if you are a Bible scholar this is not Biblically accurate. There is a message in the back of the story that tell you that interprets to what the elements might be feeling.

In this children's picture book we see all of the things that God has created, from the land, sea and rain, to the animals. These things all think that they are what God loves the most and this causes discontent between them. The message by the end is of course that everything has it's part to play, have special qualities and their place in the world, everything is equal, and God loves everything and everyone - a positive and empowering message that can be applied even without religion.

The illustrations are colourful and delightful, they will definitely keep the attention of younger children and my young son enjoyed the story and the pictures.

I'm not religious and my son is not being raised religious at all. That being said, I think that religious education is important and that there are some inspiring messages that can be taken from positive fables and texts, so we read a wide range of books and talk about many religions. You can take the important message of equality from this book regardless of denomination. Reading children's books like this allows bigger discussions and open minds, as well as conveying an important moral message of inclusion and love.

"A Very Big Problem" is a well-told creation story that will engage children and encourage reflection and discussion.

God should love me the most. It's only fair.

The story of creation using the storytelling form from rabbinic literature known as midrash. This teaches what really matters. How we need each other. Our place in the world. The story lines goes thru creation starting with the land that God created. It was good until the land said that I was here before you and thus God loves me the most. I am needed more than you. As you can see, when we have that attitude, there is chaos, discord, and a place of discontent.

God's love is bigger than our insecurities and without each other, we find ourselves with a very big problem.

A Special Thank you to Flyaway Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

This is a delightful picture book with gorgeous illustrations. The story was easy to read, but has clever vocabulary. This book will allow you to talk to kids about fairness, the environment, God’s love being equal for all and the peace that comes with knowing your place in the world.

Being not a very religious person, I was worried about reading this book and giving an opinion on it. I was surprised that I did enjoy this. The illustrations are wonderful - very detailed and bright. I also like how simple the text was and yet how much emotion and meaning it held. I think that many people would enjoy this story and that it would hold special meaning for them.

A Very Big Problem presents an age old problem of who or what is most important. Throughout the book, each creature or object gives its reason for being the most important in God’s garden. Only when God shows them how they are all needed does peace come to the garden.

A beautifully illustrated children's book about the world we live in and how we all work together. It's a simple story for pre-school aged children about how we all have to work together, from the sun and the ground we walk on to the birds, animals and people who inhabit it. The book contains a religious message as all the different parts which make up our world compete for Gods love to show they are the most important to the world.

The illustrations really are beautiful. The story is noce, but from a bookseller perspective it would probably have a wider commercial appeal without the religious context. It is still a noce product though.

Cute little story to get kids thinking. Are you the most important because you came first? Or because your can do something better than someone else? Are you stronger, faster, bigger, and therefore better?
We all have a purpose and though it might feel smaller than someone else- God loves us all for the very reason he made us, us!

For Christian Fiction this was good. Cute, easy to understand and a positive message for picture book readers.

A Very Big Problem - Amy Levine and Sandy Eisenbwrg Sasso
Published by : flyaway books
Pub’ Date: August 2020

In this cute picture book, various features, elements and animals of Earth all argue over who God loved the most. The end message leaves the reader with the idea that everyone is equal and everyone has their own special qualities which makes them special and loved. This would fit very well within the RE curriculum, and generate some good discussion points. I always find it very difficult to find books to use within RE that go beyond the traditional religious stories so it is nice to find one here that instead explored philosophical and moral concepts in a way that the children can grasp. A lovely picture book, which made me smile and chuckle! 🌟🌟🌟