This is an excellent hardback children’s book. The Publisher’s note says, ‘It’s for children between the ages of 4 to 7’. Often, it’s not easy to make these kind of judgements, but it is good to know where the book is aimed.
It’s a great book for grandparents to give to their grandchildren, and also wonderful for parents to gift to their children. At this age, it would be important to read the text to them, and of course some children will also be able to read quite a few of the words for themselves.
The graphics inside the book are superb and I love each of the two-page stories. It brings children up to date with the Bible, which is such a good place to start. It’s an impressive book!
The Authors
Marion Thomas has written the text and Daniele Fabbri, an Italian freelance illustrator, has done all of the internal artwork.
Marion writes in a traditional storyteller style invoking the poetry of the Bible story whilst retaining biblical accuracy. She lives with her family in the south of England.
Daniele has collaborated with various international publishers and advertising agencies since 2003. He was born in Ravenna, Italy.
The Book
At only 64 pages, clearly not all of the Bible is covered! However, the book is split between the Old and New Testaments, but only the Gospels are covered in the New Testament. This is fine, as it gives the reader an insight into many of the Bible stories, and particularly into those which are quite well known.
The book starts out in Genesis chapter 1 and looks at the ‘Wonderful Creation’. It says, ‘In the beginning, there was nothing at all - only God was there’.
It moves on through - Adam and Eve; Noah’s Ark; Abraham and Jacob; Pharaoh; the Baby in the Basket; Trouble in Egypt; Crossing the Red Sea; David the King; David and the Giant; Jonah runs away; and then, Daniel is thrown to the Lions!
At the end of ‘Crossing the Red Sea’, we read ‘now they were free to love God and follow his ways. God led them home through the desert to the land of Canaan’. Israel was going home - such a great story!
In the New Testament, we read about - Mary’s baby boy; Travellers from the East; Jesus the Teacher; The Storm on the Lake; the Hungry Crowd; the Good Samaritan; Jesus heals a blind man; The little tax collector; The last meal; Jesus friends run away; Death on the cross; the Empty tomb, and finally, Thomas believes.
In ‘Jesus the Teacher’, at the end we read ‘Put God first in your life, and He will make sure that you have everything you need - and much more besides’.
The final story is ‘Thomas Believes’. This is a good way to finish the book. The last sentence reads,
‘Jesus ate and talked with his friends many more times before he went back to be with God in heaven. Then he sent them the Holy Spirit, so that they had power to tell everyone they knew that God loved them and wanted them to be his friends’.
At the end of the book, the author tells us where in the Bible each of these stories can be found. This is really good for children to be able to go to the Bible story within their own version of the Scriptures. I really like this idea!
It’s suitable for anyone purchasing a book of Bible stories for their little ones and, for this A4 hardback edition of ‘Illuminating Bible Stories’ (64 pages), then the price is also very reasonable. I think this is a really good book.
Eddie Olliffe
Bookseller and Distributor for the past 35 years. Now Consulting Editor of Together Magazine. I blog on Christian Spirituality, UK Publishing and Bookselling matters.