From Kirkus, December 15, 1998:
"Lester has conceived a creation story that proves even God needs to have a little fun....A truly cool book about howperhapsthings came to be.  Bursting with folk-art style paintings, this witty and inspirational creationstory is both joyful and outrageously Funny."
 

From Horn Book, March/April 1999:
"Lester's vision of heaven is contemporary and humorous, bordering on the irreverent, yet in awe of God's creation.  God walks around in house slippers, has a wife named Irene, and a secretary named Bruce.  There is also an angel in charge of everybody's business, by the name of Shaniqua.
...This tale cries out to be performed.  The language is contemporary, colloquial, colorful, and humorous....Cepeda's colorful, stylized illustrations frolic over the pages, capturing the spirit of what Lester calls a 'black storytelling voice,' and adding many of the details than might come out of the oral rendering of the story....What a truly cool world will be pure fun, a re-invention hung on the skeleton of an African-American Folk tale, told in a way that should connect with today's youngsters." (p. 176)
 

From Booklist, February 15, 1999:
    "Lester presents a new creation story that Cepeda draws flamboyantly, featuring a Phat God, a hip-happening heavenly host, and a world that's just waiting to be impressed with its bad self....Cepeda effectively creates the scene with such soaring vistas and wonderful pinks, purples, greens, and golds that viewers could almost believe they were seeing colors for the first time...." (p. 1076)

Return to Visual Interpretive Analysis Main Page