The Blessing Seed: A Creation Myth for the New Millennium

Boldly announcing her intent in the subtitle of the book, Matthews (My Very First Book of Princesses) retells the story of Genesis with a new spin, replacing original sin with the idea of ""original blessing."" Here, when Man and Woman eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, God is not angry that they have ignored His warning (nor does the pair clothe themselves thereafter). Instead, God sympathizes: ""You are frightened and upset."" He explains that even though they have made a mistake, the ""seeds of learning and caring will grow inside [them]"" if they follow the four paths of life that lead out from the tree. Their special gift will be ""a blessing seed. It will leap from your hearts into the hearts of others."" In a closing author's note, Matthews states her wish to counteract the ""blame, shame, and guilt"" of the Old Testament story and to encourage readers to ""reassess [their] ideas about our role as human beings."" Unfortunately, her approach doesn't smoothly straddle the gap between the traditional telling and a new age take on it. The text alternates between a stately prose that echoes the Biblical account (""In the beginning, God sang everything alive"") and an incongruous, feel-good therapy tone (""Everyone in the garden has their special gift,"" complain Man and Woman when they can't figure out their own unique purpose). Dexter's batik-like watercolors in full-bleed spreads portray Man and Woman with worried faces (Woman's hair is wavy, Man sports halo spikes), and their vaguely anatomically-correct brown bodies appear in a universe of colorful bunnies and leaves. This modern myth accentuates the positive with muddled fervor and sets aside the larger, more complicated issue of free will. Ages 4-12. (Aug.)