The Jesus Storybook Bible
After my previous post, in which I suggested that most children's Bibles don't give you the big Bible picture, I was really happy to pick up another children's Bible that proved me wrong: The Jesus Storybook Bible. I haven't been this excited about a book in ages, and I wasn't expecting to be either, given my random flips through children's Bibles over the years.
I'm going to go on about this for a bit, so if you don't like reading long blog entries in multiple parts, then stop now and just get yourself in to Moore Books in King St Newtown having first phoned ahead to make sure that they still have this one in stock. Or jump onto the net and order more than one. Order more so that you will have them in time for Christmas to give to your own children and the children of your friends. Since it only came out this year, it is unlikely that they will have their own. But don't worry; if they do, there will be plenty of grateful parents you can give this away to.
Let's start at the beginning—which is the cover. It's a small hardback—nearly square—and it looks like a better quality children's storybook. The artwork by Jago is quite lovely, and is like the simple artwork that is used in some of my favourite recent fairy story books and, perhaps, the work of Pauline Baynes. (If you have the opportunity, check out her work on Tolkien's Farmer Giles of Ham.) The illustration for Goliath in the David story is a hoot. The waves in the storm before Jesus speaks words of calm are shaped like the stylized waves depicted in traditional Oriental art. The Pharisees and Sadducees (boo and hiss!) look like they stepped out of the Spanish inquisition, with their Pythonesque blood-red robes and hoods. Fire, water, sky, stars and the green, green grass are textured, and the colours are suitably primary where they need to be.
But all this would be worth nothing if the words themselves weren't equally accomplished. Sally Lloyd-Jones is a natural storyteller, and, as well as carrying you along, these stories are funny, friendly, sad, scary, joyful and playful. This from the crossing of the Red Sea:
What were God's people going to do? In front of them was a big sea. It was so big there was no way around it. But there was no way through it—it was too deep. They didn't have any boats so they couldn't sail across. And they couldn't swim across because it was too far and they would drown. And they couldn't turn back because Pharaoh was chasing them. They could see the flashing swords now, glinting in the baking sun, and the dust clouds, and chariot after scary chariot surging towards them. So they did the only thing there was left to do—PANIC!
This is better than the kids' Bibles I remember from when I was little.
After writing my post about The Jesus Storybook Bible on my personal blog, I received a very nice message from Jago, the illustrator. His personal blog says of him,
Jago is an internationally published, award-winning, extremely modest, illustrator of the finest children's picture books. He lives in a wetsuit in Cornwall with his lovely wife Alex and beautiful daughter, Lily Peach.
That must be some wetsuit!
I hope you click through on the link to his blog, because it will give you a lovely sense of how well he uses colour and emotion in his paintings and drawings. That's good, because the cover of The Jesus Storybook Bible doesn't give you the best idea as it feels a little bit cluttered. But when you open up and read, the charm of the pictures becomes fully apparent.
Jago also provides a number of useful links on his website to other reviews of The Jesus Storybook Bible. It is already a bestseller—and quite deservedly too. I believe that, as well as being good for Christian parents to use with their children, it is the sort of book you will be able to give away to non-Christian parents. Unless they have taken a strong ideological mindset against Christianity, they will be genuinely happy to have it to read to their kids.