The Jesus Storybook Bible

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Deluxe Edition. Sally Lloyd-Jones. 2009. Zonderkidz. 352 pages.

God wrote, "I love you" -- he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere! Because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror -- to show us what he is like, to help us to know him, to make our hearts sing.

The way a kitten chases her tail. The way red poppies grow wild. The way a dolphin swims.

And God put it into words, too, and wrote it in a book called "the Bible."

Now some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done.

It had me at hello from the very first story or chapter--appropriately titled The Story and The Song--in which readers get introduced to God, to the Bible, to the Gospel.

The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne -- everything -- to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this Story is -- it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle -- the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend. This is the Child who would one day -- but wait. Our story starts where all good stories start. Right at the very beginning...

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this one. I've seen other Bible story books. I've read other Bible story books. Some I remember from my childhood. Others I've come across as an adult. So what makes this one special? I think what makes this one work--really work--is how Sally Lloyd-Jones has every story whisper His name. Her ability to connect each story with the Big Story, keeps everything in perspective, keeps everything connected and relevant. It also helps that she's a good storyteller! She has a definite way with words! She keeps the stories on a child's level, but yet, the stories are beautifully and compellingly told.

From "God to the Rescue!"

So Moses went to Pharaoh.

"Pharaoh," Moses began, "God says -- "

"God?" said Pharaoh. "Never heard of him."

Moses kept going. "God says, let his people go free."

"Why should I?" Pharaoh said. "Don't want to. WON'T!" So he didn't.

But God gave Pharaoh ten warnings called plagues. (86)

and

God's people would always remember this great rescue and call it "Passover." But an even Greater Rescue was coming.

Many years later, God was going to do it again. He was going to come down once more to rescue his people. But this time God was going to set them free forever and ever. (91)

From "God's Messenger"

God had a job for Jonah. But Jonah didn't want it.

"Go to Nineveh," God said, "And tell your worst enemies that I love them."
"No!" said Jonah. "Those are bad people doing bad things!"
"Exactly," said God. "They have run far away from me. But I can't stop loving them. I will give them a new start. I will forgive them."
"NO!" said Jonah. "They don't deserve it!" (160)

Many years later, God was going to send another Messenger with the same wonderful message. Like Jonah, he would spend three days in utter darkness.

But this messenger would be God's Own Son. He would be called "The Word" because he himself would be God's Message. God's Message translated into our own language. Everything God wanted to say to the whole world -- in a Person. (169)

I could almost pick out a passage to highlight from each and every story because the book is really just that good.

One of my favorite, favorite stories is "Operation 'No More Tears!'" which draws from Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, and 60.

Isaiah has always, always been a favorite book of mine. And to see it so wonderfully, so artistically translated into a story that little ones can understand, well, it does my heart good! The story may be concise, but it's faithful to the spirit of the message.

There are twenty-one stories from the Old Testament. And twenty-three stories from the New Testament.

The illustrations are by Jago. I really liked the illustrations. I wasn't sure about them at first. But as I read the book, I began to like them more and more.

This one is available in two editions. One is the deluxe edition. And the other is the regular (no-bells-or-whistles) edition. What does the deluxe edition offer that makes it worth the price difference? It offers the book as an audio book. Three CDs narrated by David Suchet. You'll have to decide for yourself if the audio book would be a great asset to your family's library. (Personally, I like the audio book. And I would recommend it.) But either book would be a good choice.

(Both the illustrator and the narrator are from England.)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

My Story Bible: 66 Favorite Stories

Godfrey, Jan. 2009. My Story Bible: 66 Favorite Stories. Illustrated by Paola Bertolini Grudina. Tyndale. (You can read the first four stories online.)

My Story Bible: 66 Favorite Stories is a good introduction to Bible stories and characters for young readers. It's simple, but not too simple. I think it is written at a level that preschoolers and early-school age children can enjoy and appreciate. As a read aloud that is. I think the text tries to engage young listeners. And I think it succeeds for the most part. It's rhythmic and repetitive where it needs to be. Yet this wordplay isn't too distracting from the story itself.

The selection. I liked that it was a nice blend of Old Testament and New Testament. I think it is easy for books to drift one way or another. To focus all on the early stories--for example. Genesis is such a rich book for stories. And to neglect the later stories of prophets. And when it comes to the New Testament, sometimes it becomes all about the gospels and nothing else. It was nice to see a fuller range with this collection. True, the book doesn't offer every story I'd like to see retold for children. But no children's story bible ever could. It would be impossible to tell them all. To simplify them all. Some stories just don't translate down into the simplest, most basic forms. Some concepts are just too big for little minds to grasp. So you have to prioritize. And you have to always, always keep your audience in mind. Parents familiar with their bibles may see that not all the details are there for each story. Some things have been simplified and shortened. (For example, with Moses and Pharaoh, we don't get the full picture. We don't see the plagues coming one by one by one with rejections and drama in between. We get an abbreviated account of the king's stubbornness.) But again, I think it was a choice to make this one work for the youngest listeners.

Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite stories "The Sound of Music."

Three friends were taken as prisoners to a place called Babylon, far away from home. They worshiped the one true God, but the king worshiped pretend gods.
One day the king told everyone to bow down and worship a golden statue.
"I won't," said Shadrach.
"I won't," said his friend Meshach.
"I won't," said his friend Abednego.
"There will be trouble if you don't!" said a messenger of the king.
"As soon as you hear music and instruments, you'll bow down to that golden statue, or they'll be trouble--you wait and see! If you don't bow down and worship it, you'll be thrown into a fiery furnace!" (54)

A little later on we read, "So they were thrown into the blazing, fiery furnace. It was very, very, very hot. But they did not die. They did not get burned. They didn't even smell smoky!" (54)

And here's how the collection handles the Ten Commandments (in part) and the Lord's Prayer (in full) respectively.

"The seventh day of the week is special," said God. "It's a rest day, a family day, a happy day, a holy day. It's a day when everyone can worship me together. Even the animals can have a rest!"
"Treat your moms and dads well," said God. "Be polite and loving and respectful and kind and obedient to them."...
"And don't tell lies or say mean things about other people."
"Don't look at the things other people have and want them so much that you can't think about anything else." (29)

"Our father in heaven, your name is great and holy.
We want to do what is right so that your love will spread all over the world.
Please give everyone enough to eat each day, and help us to be kind to each other always.
Keep us safe from harm and from doing wrong things.
For you are true and wonderful and glorious and your Kingdom will last forever and ever. Amen." (72-73)

So for the most part, I loved the way these stories were told. As I mentioned earlier, I thought they were engaging and kid-friendly.

The illustrations. As I've said dozens of times, I'm not *good* at judging illustrations. I only know what I like, what I love, and what I hate. I liked these illustrations. I found them refreshing compared to say the illustrations in the Read and Share Bible. (I haven't *read* that one cover to cover. So I'm not saying anything about the text. Just the illustrations.)


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Classic Bible Storybook

Taylor, Kenneth N. 2009. Classic Bible Storybook: More Than 120 Bible Stories From Kenneth N. Taylor. Tyndale Publishing. 270 pages.

This bible story collection features the stories of Kenneth N. Taylor and the art of Richard and Frances Hook. Both are "classic" in the sense that they're familiar and beloved by multiple generations. Taylor's stories have been appearing in books since 1979. I remember gleefully reading "The Book for Children" when I was in elementary school; it was released in 1985. (That book which appears to have last been printed in 2000, is out of print now--at least according to Amazon.) To get back on task, the Classic Bible Storybook contains 121 stories based on the Bible. 68 of these come from the Old Testament. 53 of these come from the New Testament. (In case that sounds disproportionate, remember that the New Testament has many letters in it; these epistles don't lend themselves easily to stories.) Each story is short--written with brief attention spans in mind--and sweet. Parents can easily see where each story comes from--the book, chapter, and verse references. After each story, there are a handful of questions. Illustrations are sprinkled throughout.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Old MacNoah Had An Ark

Lloyd-Jones, Sally. 2008. Old MacNoah Had An Ark. Illustrated by Jill Newton. Harper Blessings.

Old MacNoah Had An Ark is an interesting twist on the classic song, Old MacDonald Had A Farm. It is always intriguing--to me--to see how various artists--both authors and illustrators--choose to tackle the Bible Story of Noah and the Flood. This is an important story in the Bible--a foundational one. But it is often--if not always--cutesified for children, sometimes in verse. And there's nothing wrong with that particularly--focusing on the "oh, look, here are all the animals. See how cute they are!" rather than the doom and gloom of destruction. I liked the premise of this one. It begins simply (and predictably) with

Old MacNoah built an ark, Ee-i-ee-i-o.
And for that ark he got some wood, Ee-i-ee-i-o.
With a bang! bang! here
And a bang! bang! there,
Here a bang! There a bang!
Everywhere a bang! bang!

Old MacNoah built an ark, Ee-i-ee-i-o.

Readers meet a few of the traditional MacDonald characters: cows, ducks, pigs. Then the rain starts and Noah and the animals are ready for the adventure. Lest you think that those three animals are all that made it aboard, the illustrations show other animals as well throughout the books.

Some of the verses include the Splish Splash of the rain, the Burp! Slurp! of the eating, the Poo Poo of the you know what. (Yes, it goes "with a poo poo here, and a poo poo there...here a poo...there a poo...everywhere a poo poo.) I didn't care for all the verses of the book. But most of them were fine with me. (I didn't care for the Oopsie-Daisy and Yahoo verses.)

One small thing irked me about this one. It's all well and good for Noah to become MacNoah. And the song itself wouldn't have needed to include mentioning Noah's family--his wife, his three sons, his three daughters-in-law--but the illustrations could have shown that Noah wasn't all on his ownsie. I mean, maybe a three year old or a six year old wouldn't have wondered about how Noah all on his own could have repopulated the earth...but one man can't "go forth and multiply the earth." And for Noah's redemption to have meant anything--anything other than a delay of the inevitable, his own death--he'd have needed other humans with him--men and women.

As I said, I don't think this one little thing would keep me from recommending this one. And it doesn't make it a bad retelling by any means. It just isn't quite as complete as it perhaps should be.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Baby Bible: Stories About Jesus

Currie, Robin. 2004. Baby Bible: Stories About Jesus. Illustrated by Cindy Brownsberger Adams. FaithKidz.

and

Currie, Robin. 2008. Baby Bible: Stories About Jesus. Illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo.

This board book story-bible is great for young readers--babies, toddlers, preschoolers. The book presents a nice variety of stories centered on Jesus--from his birth to his ascension.

Each story is two pages. One of text. One of illustration. The text consists of title, scripture reference, narrative (with interaction prompts), and a concluding prayer.

For example,

Jesus At the Temple
Taken from Luke 2:41-50

Jesus and His family went on a long trip to the temple in Jerusalem. They walked and walked.

Tap your hands on your knees.

They liked to be with all their friends and pray and learn about God.

Fold your hands to pray.

In the temple lived teachers who read lots of books. Jesus asked them many questions. They were surprised that He knew so much.

Show me a surprised face.

You can learn about Jesus by reading the Bible--God's Word.

Thank you, God, for books to learn about Jesus. Amen.

I won't mention the illustrations because with one edition being out-of-print now and the newer edition being a different illustrator--one I haven't even seen--it wouldn't be all that helpful unless you happen to want to seek out this older edition and buy it used.

I will say this--I loved this book.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Toddler Bible

James, Bethan & Yorgos Sgouros. 2008. My Toddler Bible. Published by Tyndale.

This is a Bible story collection board-book featuring sixteen stories from both the Old and New Testaments. What stories do we have? Creation (But no Adam and Eve), Noah's Ark (Noah gets two of the sixteen actually), Joseph (coat, no slavery), Moses (as a babe with great promise), David (just David and Goliath, no being King), Jonah (but without the temper tantrum at the end), Daniel (lion's den), the rest of the stories are devoted to Jesus--from birth through resurrection. The stories are presented simply and matter-of-factly. Here's an example of Moses:

This is baby Moses.
His mother hid him from the mean king in Egypt. God made sure he was kept safe. When the princess found Moses, she looked after him.
God had a job for Moses.
When he was grown up, he led God's people out of slavery in Egypt to a land where could love and worship God.

See? Short and sweet. There are plenty of missing stories--I'm curious as to why there isn't an Adam and Eve story, or an Abraham story for that matter. (Though now that I think about it, Abraham is most famous for being willing to sacrifice Isaac, so that wouldn't be age-appropriate.) But the stories we do have are good ones belonging in any Bible story collection. They're safe and a bit cleaned up. But I think that has more to do with being age-appropriate--do concepts of slavery, cruelty, war, etc. really belong??? There will be a time and place for the fuller stories to be shared.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers