And There Was Light

And There Was Light: Old Testament stories

Volume I of Jakob Streit’s trilogy of Old Testament stories.

Stories from Genesis in the Old Testament light up for children (of all ages) the beginning of the world and the development of the human race. Rich language and deep insight into the nature of being human are the best of this book. Beautiful, delicate illustrations tickle the imagination with quiet, reverent images of the complexity and glory of life’s beginning.

As a bedtime story reader, a reader for a whole class, or a read-on-your-own, this is a gem!

These tales travel off the beaten path of the actual Bible stories and illuminate the way of life before and following “the Fall.” For children ages 9 to 12, these stories explain much about human nature, love, anger, aspirations, envy, ambition, hope, greed, spirituality in every soul, and the early ways of agriculture, housebuilding. and blacksmithing.

With strong images and delicate imagination, the stories call to a moral development in the young (and in the old!) from these archetypes of familiar Bible stories. “The back story” in all cases fills the picture for children of why we are basically good and sometimes not so very good. For the nine to ten year old in particular this book will do a world of good for the child in describing the rising consciousness in his and her own self. Master storyteller Jakob Streit tells vivid stories from the creation of the world to Noah’s Ark.

This Waldorf classic, back in print after many years, can be a foundation for world literature as these stories provide strong images and moral lessons. ‘And There Was Light’ can serve Waldorf teachers preparing the third grade curriculum, as readers for fourth grade students, and any reader wishing to explore the Old Testament.
The book is illustrated by Assja Turgenieff.

Volume II – Journey to the Promised Land
Volume III – We Will Build a Temple

About the Author

Jakob Streit grew up in Spiez, Switzerland, a district to which Irish monks brought Christianity more than a thousand years ago. He studied natural history and the history of art. He is a teacher in child and adult education.