Eve and Adam are enjoy­ing life in the beau­ti­ful Gar­den of Eden. They lux­u­ri­ate among the beau­ti­ful trees and flow­ers, and coex­ist joy­ful­ly among the many liv­ing crea­tures. They ask many ques­tions as they explore their spec­tac­u­lar gar­den. Eve, espe­cial­ly, is full of curios­i­ty and eager to learn more about every­thing she sees. She knows that God has for­bid­den her and Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowl­edge, but there are so many things she still wants to know. Learn­ing more is too tempt­ing, and she can’t resist the snake who entices her to sam­ple the tree’s beau­ti­ful fruit. When God catch­es Eve and Adam in the act of tast­ing, they at first try to evade account­abil­i­ty, but even­tu­al­ly con­fess what they have done. Inquis­i­tive, intel­li­gent Eve real­izes that the con­se­quence of the actions — leav­ing the Gar­den of Eden — is sad, but it also pro­vides a new oppor­tu­ni­ty for growth. They set off on their jour­ney into the world that God has cre­at­ed, know­ing they have so much to learn, to choose, and to per­fect. An adven­ture awaits!

In an author’s note, Kim­mel­man sug­gests that explo­ration and adven­ture can unlock brand new worlds, even if it some­times means leav­ing the com­fort of every­thing famil­iar. She offers exam­ples of new expe­ri­ences that await her young read­ers, and she reas­sures them that they are capa­ble of han­dling change. She reminds read­ers that mak­ing mis­takes is an excel­lent way to learn and that fear is an inher­ent part of life — one that can help spur them forward.

Eve and Adam’s world — inside and out­side the Gar­den — is a place in which they can dis­cov­er who they are, and who they hope to become. Read­ers are encour­aged to make bold choic­es and to mature into the best ver­sions of themselves.

The art is charm­ing and vibrant, pre­sent­ing the world as a place of won­der to behold and wis­dom to attain. This is a beau­ti­ful, wise book from which even adults can learn.