Excellent illustrations and use of language. Very popular with second and fourth graders as a read aloud. ( )

Plenty of people have wondered why heaven is so far away and apparently the answer actually quite funny and quite simple. Heaven is so far away because of snakes. Heaven used to be so close that there were ladders all over the world that connected heaven and Earth, but when the snakes start causing problems on Earth, all the people and animals try to climb up the ladders to avoid them. Heaven became so crowded that God, Mrs. God, Shaniqua, and Bruce all determine that everyone down on Earth needs to deal with their problem on their own and maybe they need to make heaven a little harder to reach. ( )

Julius Lester writes 'Why Heaven is Far Away' along with Joe Cepeda illustrating. The story features a relatable God, Mrs. God, angels, mankind animals, and snakes. The story Lester creates has a world in a time that had heaven so close to the Earth that they were connected by ladders, allowing anyone and everyone to move between worlds. god is portrayed as a fun loving, laid back, black male. All who see him enjoy when he stops by; he reminds me of that fun uncle in the family who comes to visit. Everyone is happy in the world, except for the snakes. The snakes were always attacked. So god gave them poison to defend themselves. But snakes bite all around because of their bad eyesight and hearing. All creatures on earth climb up ladders to heaven for protection. But filling heaven was no solution. God always wanted to be able to help each and every one of his creations. But he knew they all had to be able to learn how to resolve their own problems. In the end, Lester creates an interesting story of a reason as to why heaven is always so far away. Mankind must not rely on others and learn to fix their problems. Lester's comedy and Cepeda's art work make for a entertaining characters and tale set in modern times.
bit wordy ( )

This book is a representation of heaven, God, and angels from Africa. I appreciate the multi-cultural view and illustrations, but I am not the biggest fan of this book mostly because I find it a bit wordy. I think the representation of God in this book contrasts with my own view, but as an adult I can get past that. With that being said, I don't know if children could. If I were to share this book with a class, I would wait until they are a bit older because it is a bit difficult to understand for younger readers, and they might not understand that this is a view of heaven and God, not necessarily the only view. I do think it is important to expose other religions and cultures, but I would have to be careful with this one, mostly concerning age. ( )

This book discusses how heaven and earth are so far apart. The topics are religious but very fictional when compared to religious belief. The characters include Shaniqua, God and Mrs. God, I would not suggest reading this book to a class with multiple religions or to a student in a private school. ( )