Lauren Ducommun

Book Review: God Made the World, God Made the Ocean, and God Made the Rain Forest by Sarah Jean Collins
Tyndale Kids, 2019
Board Book

Tyndale Kids has a series called The God Made series, but while they were colorful and had lots of fun illustrations, I felt like the books were lacking in their writing and sometimes in their theology.

I have to be upfront and say that I am a very picky board book and picture book reader. I’m not a fan of twaddle or fluff as there are so many other books we could be reading or spending our money on. The God Made series didn’t quite make the cut for me, and I actually ended up returning them (mainly because the book set I received also had a print defect and was already falling apart on the first day).

Sarah Jean Collins is a graphic designer who wrote and illustrated three board books: God Made the World, God Made the Ocean, and God Made the Rain Forest. In her story about the ocean each page introduced a different sea creature along with a unique feature that God gave them. She closes by saying that while God cares for each unique creature, he cares for us even more.

In her board book about rainforests, she talks about a special creature found in the rainforest. The end message is that each creature is unique, just like each girl and boy are unique.

While God Made the World was a retelling of Creation, I actually liked it less as some of the ways she phrased things felt off. Collins wrote that on day two God “blew some fresh air; that day the sky was born.” I find this slightly problematic as it implies things that aren’t stated in Scripture: that God created not by speaking but by blowing air. The only time in the Creation story in which God breathes on something is when he breathes life into man. It reminded me more of how God sent a wind over the earth after the Flood.

When writing about the sixth day she said, “God said, ‘Earth, form creatures of every kind.’ So all the animals on land were made for you to find.” This is also an odd phrase, as the earth isn’t a being nor did it create anything. Kids may come away thinking it was the earth and not God who “formed out of the ground every wild animal” (Gen 2:19).

Finally, on one of the last pages, it says “God saw that all he’d made was good, and everything he blessed.” While God did say everything he created was good, the only things he blessed during Creation were: the sea and sky creatures, mankind, and the seventh day. Again, these are all extremely nit-picky things, but as a child’s first introduction to the Creation story, it may lay a foundation with ideas that aren’t clearly communicated. The redeeming fact is that in her books, Collins does repeat over and over how it is God who made everything.

While the animal books were cute, if I had a small budget for a family or church library, I probably would pass on this series.