Everywhere and Everything: A Spiritual Story about the First Dream

In his first picture book, Rawady presents a strange interpretation of the story of creation from the book of Genesis. In his fable, something called ""The One"" has infinite power and It dreams the world and all its inhabitants into existence: ""It dreamed space and part of It became space."" When It dreams an animal ""different from the rest--an animal which could think and remember and speak,"" this animal calls himself human, names the plants and animals, and names The One, God. Jews and Christians may well take offense at the late appearance of the word God in a text so clearly inspired by the Bible. Rawady's sometimes awkward phrasing and use of such vague terms as Its and The One may also prove vexing to young readers. In addition, Cordaro's abstract compositions are predominantly dark and frightful and not likely to appeal to children. Overall, this project intended to ""introduce children to spirituality,"" falls short of its goal. Ages 8-up. (Aug.)