Promises of God Storybook Bible by Jennifer Lyell

The Promises of God Storybook Bible is a high level overview of many of the accounts in the Bible aimed at children. I liked several aspects of it, for one, it doesn't shy away from teaching what many would consider 'deep' truths, that even adults struggle with.  It seems to go by the premise that kids will take God's word in faith (as we all must do). Here are some excerpts to illustrate this, "…He is only one God, but He has three persons that are all completely that one God" and, "He has always known every single thing that was going to happen, and nothing ever happens without His permission.  That means when we hear about something that happened in the Bible, where someone disobeyed God or it seems like God's plans were messed up, God's plans were never messed up. "  It doesn't shy away from concepts of God's sovereignty, for instance in dealing with Rahab the harlot it says, "God had made it so that Rahab would hear all these things, and then He changed her heart to want to follow Him."

At first I was afraid that this book would promote, or at least leave room for, Creation taking place for millions of years.  At first it seemed that it was at least leaving room for that concept as it didn't initially describe six "days", but then it actually did seem to get more specific: "God filled the water with fish and animals that swim!  Big fish and little fish.  They were all created in one second because He said they should exist." Okay, the term "One second" certainly doesn't leave room for evolution! I do wish that it would have clarified creation as taking place in six days though.

This book needs some clarification/corrective commentary if read to/by kids.  I'll give a few examples:  For one thing, the book seems to assume that there were sacrifices for sin before the Mosaic law.  It teaches that God told Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice for sin. I don't remember God specifying that it would be a sacrifice for sin, just that he was to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering (were all 'burnt offerings' sacrifices for sin?).  Also, later on, in dealing with Moses, after he flees Egypt, "The Bible doesn't tell us for sure, but it seems that during this time Moses asked God's forgiveness for killing the Egyptian and made the sacrifice he had to make for that sin."  Again, perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought that sin sacrifices, in particular, were not instituted by God until the Mosaic law.   

It also reads things into some of the accounts.  For instance, it talks about Abraham being worried that God really as going to make him kill his own son.  "His heart must have been beating so hard, and he was probably had tears in his eyes as he worried that maybe God really was going to make him kill his own son." The Bible doesn't say that Abraham was worried that he MIGHT have to actually kill his son, he actually didn't seem to have any question as to whether or not he would have to kill his son, rather he seemed to have instantly made up his mind that he would kill his son because God had told him to do it.  He was all in, also evidenced by his contemplating that God can even bring people back from the dead. 

In the illustrations, Aaron looks significantly younger than Moses - that seems weird as Aaron was older than Moses.  Also, and I expected this, but there are illustrations of Christ.  I always feel a bit uncomfortable with depictions of Christ, and still do - especially with cartoon illustrations.  These aren't as strange and irreverent seeming as some (Beginner's Bible), but still make me uneasy. 

Anyway, this book is sort of an overview/ paraphrase with some interpretative commentary thrown in.

Many thanks to the folks at B&H publishers for sending me a free review copy of this book. My review did not have to be favorable.

My Rating: Three Stars ***

This book may be purchased at Christianbook.com and Amazon.com

Tales of the Kingdom by David and Karen Mains

Tales of the Kingdom by David & Karen Mains is an allegorical story about characters who live in a magical world with bad guys and good guys.  I have vague memories of hearing this book as a child, and I  I recall thinking it was rather interesting, though I didn't remember a lot about it.

As a story it is an interesting tale of girls and boys who find refuge in the forest with the exiled King.  Different lessons are learned by various unique characters, who all find a place in the Kingdom. There are creepy bad guys, like the Enchanter and the Burners and Naysayers.  The book tells stories   about individual people in the various chapters, switching back and forth between some, and introducing new characters in others.  They ultimately fit together very well as an overall story. There is the girl named Dirty, who loved being dirty and lived with the pigs, but comes to realize her horrible situation and wants to be clean.  There is the boy named Scarboy (later Hero) who has a hard time coming to grips with his usefulness while thinking that the scar on his face is an impediment.  There is a princess named Amanda, one of whose skills is spitting with great accuracy. Kind of a strange thing…. There are even stranger characters as well.  Perhaps the weirdest of all is the Ranger  Commander who is also the "Caretaker" who makes flowers and things grow. Think of a hippy who is not opposed to war. 

I need to offer a bit of critique of this book. First, some of the things that happened make me a bit uncomfortable.  For instance, in one place, while the girl Amanda's burn wounds are being cared for (think dragon), the boy, almost a man, Hero is watching. I didn't feel comfortable with that as it mentioned that her clothes had been taken off to care for the wounds.  I don't think that it was meant to be erotic at all but just the concept itself was not decent.

And another thing, If it weren’t meant to be a Christian allegory, I would probably have liked the book more overall, but it is supposed to be Christian allegory.  There are some odd symbolisms that I don't quite understand but My main problem is the portrayal of the King (who seems to represent Christ).  At times he seems serious, but then at others he seems like some sort of happy-go-lucky guy.  Let me quote an example, The King is talking to one of the main children of this story, and he says, "'Can you do this?' He sprang onto his hands and balanced his feet in the air as he moved across the grass.  Hero hadn't spent all afternoon on the practice field for nothing.  He lifted his hands above his head, then went down to the ground with his feet in the air.  He walked around awkwardly until he faced the peasant.  They looked at each other upside down."  That is not the way Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament.  Also, toward the end, a girl who had been rebellious is now coming back but is afraid of how the king will receive her.  "The King folded the weeping child into his arms.  "Don't leave me, Amanda,' he whispered, 'We've all been so lonely without you.'  That is not accurate either, God is not lonely for humans, and not lonely in general (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit do not need company). He does not need us, and does not lack anything that we can give Him (otherwise, He wouldn't be God).  The loneliest moment, and probably the only lonely moment Jesus has ever had was, not when His disciples forsook Him, but when the Father did so.

But if you just look on it as a story, not an allegory, then it's okay and just an adventure (though it's kind of hard to do that when the king says as a battle cry, speaking of his father, "To the Emperor of All! To the One Who Always Is!". But one could change that while reading it out loud.

The pictures are interesting, I would have enjoyed studying them as a kid, though some are pretty weird.  My little brother loved the picture of Amanda and the Dragon, because he really likes dragons and this one is illustrated well.  He kept asking if he could look at the book, just to examine the dragon picture some more. 

  It would work well as a bedtime story, if you can get your kids to only listen to one or two stories. It is adventurous and well written.  If a little odd. 

Many thanks to the folks at BookCrash for working with the publisher to provide me with a complimentary review copy of this book! (My review did not have to be favorable)

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars ***

This book may be purchased at Amazon.com and at kingdomtales.com

The Kingdom Files (book series) - Who was Esther? and Who was David? by Matt Koceich

These books are intended to teach kids about various biblical characters.  I read the ones on David and Esther.  The books are made up of various "files" for kids to investigate the particular characters in any of the given books. Starting out with a "Fact file", which gives a few facts about the person you are looking into, including a tiny timeline with about three events selected.  Next comes the "Action File", giving a summary of the person's life, along with various illustrations.  Lastly comes the "Power File" which gives you some ideas of what you can learn from the life of the person you are studying, and also provides you with memory verses from various books of the Bible.

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed with these books. First of all, they seem more like books for kids younger than 8, not 8-12. The biographies skip too much, it doesn't mention that Jonathan's father tried to kill Jonathan when Jonathan defended David, it doesn't mention that David's wives were taken when the city he was living in was raided, it just said that they recovered everything that was plundered.  There is no mention of David's sin with Bathsheba, or his having her husband killed, it just says later on that David made mistakes in his life.  When David's son Absalom is chasing David, it has a "Clue" on the side: "David was being chased by someone close to him.  He was being hunted even though he hadn't done anything wrong." But, don't we know from the Bible that this was a part of the consequence of his sin with Bathsheba (See 2 Samuel 12:11)? That was certainly something that was very wrong.

Also, the "Clues" scattered throughout their book don't make much sense to me.  The introduction to the books says that the "Clue Boxes will offer applications to help you keep track of your thoughts as you make your way through the files." Okay, fine.  But look at one of the "Clues" "Crags of the Wild Goats is located in the Judean wilderness. It's made up of rocky cliffs.  The ibex mountain goat is found in this area".  What kind of application is that?   How does that help me keep track of my thoughts? It helps me keep track of the story, but doesn't keep me an application to anything.  They should have just been called "Fact Boxes" or "Investigating Further".  Their purpose as "Clues" just didn't make sense.

Speaking of facts, in the "Fact File" there is information that is not so factual.  For instance in the fact file in the Kingdom File on David, after talking about the temple and that it was mainly used for sacrifices to God, it says, "Once a year, the high priest would go into the holy of holies, pray to God and ask God to forgive the people of Israel's sins."  And so God just forgave their sins on the merit of the prayers of the high priest? I'm not sure that the High Priest prayed at all. The High Priest had to go in to the holy of holies with the blood of an animal, he couldn't just pray for the sins of the people to be forgiven, there had to be a sacrifice of an animal on their behalf.  "but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for himself, and for the errors of the people"(Heb 9:7)ASV

In the "Kingdom File" on Esther, "On the surface, Esther's story is very similar to our spiritual life stories because she was taken from a faraway place into the presence of a king, just as Jesus saves us from our sins and brings us into His Father's house."  Ummm… Esther probably wasn't the most excited when she was taken away from her home to be one of a bunch of other candidates to have a chance to be the King's replacement Queen…failing that, she would definitely become one of his concubines.  She would probably rather have stayed with Mordecai, where her life surroundings were more likely to be moral. This part of Esther's story is hardly an accurate comparison to Jesus saving us from our sins.

And now for the illustrations…the cover images are pretty neat, ones I would have liked examining as a kid, but the ones on the inside would have disappointed me.  Especially the ones in the David book, where, unlike on the cover, he looks very blond; so much so that when they depict him as a young man and give him a beard he actually looks old.  And at least one of the pictures is biblically inaccurate.  The book tells about where Saul goes into a cave and, unknown to him, David's men are there hiding and David cuts off the corner of Saul's robe.  It doesn't tell WHY Saul went into the cave…but I can live with that.  My problem is that this part is illustrated and has Saul wrapped up in his robe sleeping in the cave and David cutting off the corner of his robe.  That's false.  Not that I think that part should be illustrated in the first place, but don't illustrate it wrong!

All in all, these books just weren't accurate enough for me to like them.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

These books may be found at Amazon.com 

Who Was David?

Who Was Esther?

My Rating: 1 out of 5 Stars
*

365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories

I became interested in reviewing this book when I saw a preview of it online.  365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories (inspired by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut's Story of the Bible) illustrated by Alessia Girasole is geared towards children ages 3 and up and, from what I saw in the preview text online, it looked like it might be a pretty good resource to have for teaching kids. 

Upon first examining the book I was very pleased to see that they didn't seem to be trying to cut out the more gruesome and sad parts of the Bible.  Some of it struck me as sadly amusing, mainly because of the illustrations.  To give an example, one of the 'stories' gives the account of the 'scoffing' nobleman who didn't believe Elisha when he said that food would be sold at extremely low prices the following day (there was a severe famine in the land).

 The nobleman died the following day from being trampled by people rushing toward the food.  This is illustrated (bloodlessly) in the picture accompanying the story.  It amused me because the pictures in the book are rather 'cutsey' looking cartoons and are geared more for very young children and here is this illustration of a man being trampled by a bunch of people! It also struck me funny because the back of this book describes it as being a way to make "bedtime reading a delightful learning and faith-building experience for both you and your kids." 

One of those 'delightful' stories happens to be one that ends with that ends in this way: "He was knocked to the ground by the crowd and crushed to death."  Sweet dreams kids! Just kidding.  It's good for kids to learn the truth, and it will probably be a good discussion starter about belief in what God says, assuming that you want a discussion started at bedtime.  Or you could just read the next two stories after that.  I say two because if you are reading on, in order to end on a happier note, you won't want to end on the next story either as it ends with a man being smothered!  An illustration is provided for that one as well though it only shows the man ABOUT to be smothered, not in the process of being smothered (if that's any comfort!). 

Sadly, though, there were several exceptions to their accurate accounts of events in the Bible. I'll give three examples:

1. The sections that give the account of Gideon's life end with the statement, "There were, at different times, fifteen judges over Israel.  But of them all, Gideon had the most wisdom, courage, and faith."  Where did they get that from? Do they even remember what happened later in Gideon's life? Gideon requested that people give him gold, "And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. "(Jdg 8:27)  That doesn't give the impression that Gideon was even close to being the best judge of Israel.

2. When speaking of the account of David and Bathsheba, this book says that when David saw her "He loved her and wanted her to be his wife" and so he had her husband Uriah killed.  No… David committed adultery with Bathsheba before having her husband killed and he apparently had no intention of taking Bathsheba for his own wife until he had learned that she was pregnant and couldn't set things up to make it seem as though Uriah was the father. That's when he had Uriah killed.  The people who put this together didn't have to go into great detail of course, but they didn't have to resort to giving inaccurate Biblical history.   

3. The same with the account of Saul in the cave.  This book says that he rested in the gave while David and his men were hiding in there (it even has a picture of Saul wrapped in a blanket sleeping in the cave), and that David cut a corner of Saul's robe while he was sleeping.  But, that of course was not what Saul was doing.  They could have said that he was "using the bathroom" or "relieving himself" and let parents do the explaining.  Or they could have just said that he was in a cave. But say that the Scriptures say something that they did not say!

One more thing, and this is somewhat minor, the words used in the book could have been dumbed down a bit more,  down to the level of a little kid's intellect.  Instead of saying, "He remained there", they could have said, "He stayed there."  Or Instead of "He wept", they could have said "He cried" and so on.  Not only would it make it easier for little kids to understand but it would make it more consistent with other parts of the book where they actually did change it to more modern vernacular.  They  used statements like, "It was stinky", "Come on" and "You're phonies!".  So why do that with only some of the text and yet leave others that are easily changed to something simpler?

The pictures are interesting and kids like looking at them (a couple of my little brothers seem to like them), they generally fit well with the stories. though not all of them are accurate.  I'm pretty sure that Aaron should be illustrated as being older than Moses, not younger (Moses has grey hair and Aaron has brown hair in this book).  I mainly wish that they had chosen not to depict Christ in the illustrations, or at least not to show His face.  That would be more respectful.  Instead they make Him look like a European man with long hair. 

Overall, though, the people who put this book together seem to have done a pretty good job in many of the 'stories' they recount, sticking closely to the text of the Bible in their summaries.  My little brother enjoyed listening to some of it and talking about the pictures.  Just be ready to read it with scrutiny, and with verbal criticism and explanation to make sure that your kids are getting accurate information.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

***

This book may be purchased at Amazon.com and at Christianbook.com

Irenaeus by Simonettta Carr

Like all of the books in the Christian Biographies for Young Readers series, this one is a great introduction to its subject. In this book, one is introduced to Irenaeus of Lyon, a Christian who lived during the early days of the church, his mentor was Polycarp who had known the Apostle John. Irenaeus helped keep Christians of his day anchored to God's Word by speaking and writing against many heresies that were spreading at the time.

I really like that Carr doesn't just tell the factual details of the lives she writes about but also delves into some theological concepts and even doctrinal controversies.  It's good for young people to learn details about the defense of the right interpretation of God's word.  In this volume, she does a good job of explaining some of the heresies that Irenaeus fought against, including providing some details of his critique of the bad hermeneutic of people who took the Scriptures out of context, twisting them to say other things: "He gave the example of a poem made up of separate lines from different books by the Greek poet Homer.  The lines had nothing to do with each other, but together they made up a poem Homer had never intended to write.  A casual reader would think the poem was really Homer's."  I found it amusing to find that, when Irenaeus had critiqued some ridiculous and confusing Gnostic teachings, he ended his written explanation of their views with an exclamation akin to our "Eek!" expressing his view of the absurdity of what they believed. Apparently Irenaeus had a sense of humor.

As usual, Carr's book has many illustrations imagining what events in Irenaeus' life may have looked like, and also many photographs of places and things, including historical artifacts from that day, as well as some pictures of more recent statues of what others imagined how Irenaeus and Polycarp appeared. There is not a lot of information about Irenaeus' life but Carr does a good job of explaining the things that we do know about him and also inferring things that might have been the case based on what we know of that period in time.  All in all I think this is a good summarizing biography.

I think it's perfectly fine for kids to read and hear works of fiction, but I think it's also good to let them learn about real Christians who lived in the past.  Real people who lived and died fighting the good fight of faith.  What better way to put one's imagination to work than contemplating real events, real Christian people and the teachings of God's Word?  This book is one of a series of books that are a good way to have young people (and older people) practice doing that.

Many thanks to the folks at Cross Focused Reviews for sending me a free review copy of this book!  My review did not have to be favorable.

My rating:  Five out of Five Stars

*****

This may be purchased at (among other places) Amazon.com

God's Smuggler - Young Reader's Edition

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John and Elizabeth Sherrill: Young Reader's Edition is quite an interesting read.

It gives you an overview of the life of 'Brother Andrew, as he later became known, he was a Bible smuggler.

Andrew, like everyone, did not start out life as a Christian, he was struggling with life-purpose into his early adulthood.  He became a Christian and had a growing desire for knowledge of the Word of God and an eagerness to put into practice what he learned and to share the Gospel with others.

After becoming a Christian, Andrew became aware of, and concerned with the peril of churches in countries that were under communist rule.  He found that the Bible, in many of those countries, was scarce and hard to obtain, despite the idea being touted by the communists that they promoted freedom of religion.  In some countries there were no Bibles being printed, in others there were plenty of Bibles available but hardly anyone was interested in owning one, and in one country the communists advertised that they were printing their own translation of the Bible, but they delayed its publication and did not allow any other publication of Bibles.  Andrew sees a ministry opportunity in this need for Bibles and starts smuggling Bibles into those countries.  This book details many of the ways that God protected Andrew and his co-workers in their getting the Bibles past the various country borders.

 I do need to mention a couple of things that I didn't feel comfortable with the prophetic 'impressions' that Andrew and other people had about certain things: Feeling positive that God would give a car, or getting a confident thought that God would not let authorities harm them on a certain day.  How does one know that one's confidence is in God at those moments and not merely in one's own feelings/desires? Perhaps this may be considered a drastic example, but what if I am locked up in jail for being a Christian and I'm not given any food.  I will  think that I need food, I may even have an impression that God will supply it, but what if it turns out that God wants me to starve, die and be with Him?  That was my problem, and the fact that Andrew never seemed to believe that God would ever say "no" to anything he asked (like getting a helpmeet for instance).  I know that they didn't mean it this way but it could come across to a kid as if God will give you any material, earth-based thing for which you ask. 

But other than those things I really liked the book.  One of my favorite parts to read was of a time before Andrew became a Bible smuggler.  He went to a missionary training school, and quite a unique one!  The school actually sounded like a real mission school based on faith in God and His provision rather than teaching potential missionaries to solicit people for funds and help.  "The real purpose of this training….is to teach our students that they can trust God to do what He said.  He would do……They cannot be effective if they are afraid or if they doubt that God really means what He says in His Word."   On their practice Evangelistic trips they would be sent out with only one pound, and would rely upon God to supply their needs and His supplying did not merely take the form of money, it also took the form of food and clothes being given at just the right time.  That seems to be a more biblical form of missionary activity than what one sees nowadays, and more faith-based.  I know that all missionaries are not like this, but many come across as if they focus on money  and the help of people   If they really are called to the mission field, God will give the needed supplies even without them going to people for help.   So I was very refreshed to see the perspective of the people in this book in regards to their trust in God to supply all their needs.

 I believe that I would have liked this account a lot as a kid and a teenager.  It was very well written, intriguing and it left me wanting more.  It is quite fascinating to see what God has done in the lives of other Christians and to see the various circumstances God put them in in order to conform them to the image of Christ and to bring the Gospel to other people.   I think that this was an abridgment of the original work and so one can probably find an unabridged copy of this account if one wants to learn more (which I will probably end up doing).

Many thanks to the folks at Cross Focused Reviews for the free review copy! 

A couple of the websites where one may purchase this book are Amazon.com and Christian Book Distributors

   

Martin Luther by Simonetta Carr

Martin Luther by Simonetta Carr is a nice overview of the life of Luther for children.   It starts with Luther's birth and moves on through his life as a child in schooling and then on to his college days, where the thunderstorm happens that scares him into a monastic life where perhaps he could earn his way to Heaven.  As a Monk we learn that Luther was very meticulous and very much into examining his own thoughts and motives for sin; his ritualistic confession of his sins grew so frequent (sometimes happening just moments after he had  confessed other sins) that it irritated his superiors who then "told him to confess only big sins."

 Luther ultimately is promoted to higher positions, moving on to the city of Wittenberg to be a professor of Bible studies. Ultimately he also ends up preaching in the city church as well as "supervising ten monasteries".  Tetzel comes into Germany with his indulgences and as a consequence Luther writes his "ninety-five questions" (I like how Carr simplifies much of the language for children). He simply wanted to discuss them on a scholarly level, but they end up being translated into the common language of the people and causing a big stir in the nation and around Europe.   And then of course the famous 'Diet of Worms" happens, Luther gets taken away to a Castle…etc. Ultimately Luther ends up marrying and having several children.  We see how generous Luther and his wife are, they help many people during hard times. They also go through hard times themselves, losing some of their children in death, but they still trust God.  The book comes to a close with Luther's death followed by a quick summary of his influence. 

There are pictures scattered around the book: old and new paintings and drawings of Luther in various events God ordained that he would go through.  There are also pictures of some of his relatives and other historical people mentioned in this book.  Also included throughout the book are photographs and old drawings of the various towns and buildings Luther frequented, as well as a few photographs of objects, such as a lute and a chest used to "collect money from the sale of indulgences".

Carr writes in a way that I think children will easily understand and also manages to simplify  explanations of erroneous beliefs of the day as well as important Biblical concepts. As Examples, Carr talks about people thinking that they could earn their salvation or the salvation of others, and that many believed that Christ and God were both angry judges of sinners to be appeased by 'saints' (described as "godly people who had died") .  She also conveys Luther's struggle with what "the righteousness of God" (as discussed in the book of Romans) actually means and his final realization that in this verse (Rom 1:17), "this is not a righteousness God demands,  but a righteousness God gives in Jesus Christ."

At the end of the book there is a Did  You Know? section and after that a selection of excerpts from Luther's small catechism. I found the "did  you know" section especially interesting. I did not know (or at least I didn't remember) that Luther's last name at birth was actually Luder but he changed the spelling to Luther, "as a wordplay on the Greek eleutherius, which means "free man".  I think that kids (and adults) will both enjoy that section as a potential discussion prompting conclusion to the book. 

All in all, I really liked this book.  I really appreciated that she does not make Luther come across as a hero to be worshiped but rather as a man, saved by God's grace and not his own merit, who was used by God to bring people to a correct knowledge of the Gospel and to point them to the Word of God as the only authority.

Many thanks to the folks at Cross Focused Reviews for sending me a free review copy of this book (My review did not have to be favorable)

Two of the websites (among others) where you may buy this book are at the Christian Book Distributors site and Amazon.com 

The Knight's Map - R. C. Sproul

The Knight's Map by R. C. Sproul is an allegory for children and is very much like the Pilgrim's Progress.  Its focus is on the tale of a Knight without loyalties to any king who receives a mysterious letter, and also a map, from a King (whose existence is doubted by people), the King invites the Knight to follow the map to find a Treasure that will not fade away.  The Knight encounters many obstacles along the way, mainly these obstacles take the form  of the Knight being misled by other people like Mr. Skeptic and Mr. Liberal who try to draw the Knight's attention away from trying to read the map correctly (and even discouraging any attempt to read it at all). 

The book has many nicely drawn (or rather, painted) pictures that I am sure would have captured my interest as a child. The story is well-written and would hold the interest of adults as well as children.  There is a question and answer section at the back that could be helpful to parents in prompting their children to think about what the story represents, though I think that the actual story has enough explanation in and of itself through the dialogue of the Grandpa (who is telling the story) and his grandkids at the beginning and ending of the book.

I think that my biggest problem with this book is that I wish it were longer.  It just seemed too short, even for a kids book, but perhaps that is because I am judging with an adult's brain.  I think that that is a sign of a good book, when it leaves you wanting more.  Perhaps someday Mr. Sproul will come up with an adult's version, one that delves into even more detail about those who want to distract us from the Bible/map that God provides us with.  I find allegories like that in this book fascinating.  But even if he doesn't come up with an edition for older people, this book is good in its own right, simple and straightforward picture of a person seeking God and God's provision of understanding and guidance along the way to discovering Him. 

Thanks to the folks at Reformation Trust Publishing for the free review copy of this book(My review did not have to be a favorable one). 

Among other sites, a couple of the places where one may purchase this book is at Amazon.com and at the Ligonier store

ICB translation: The Frost Bible

I must admit, I liked the cover of this Bible (the 'Frost Bible') decorated with snow and sparkles and that was one of the reasons I requested this book in order to review it.  I am not an advocate of choosing a Bible because of its cover, and am generally uncomfortable with Bibles that are aimed towards a specific gender (mainly because of their study notes that may run into danger of eisegesis by trying to direct the thinking into a more egotistical interpretation of Scripture) , but this one, other than its being appealing to girls by its cover (as I am proof of) is otherwise a fairly basic Bible.   

My motives in requesting this Bible were not wholly material in nature, I had never heard of the International Children's Translation before and was very curious about it.   It seems to be a rather literal translation overall.  They explain in the preface about some liberties they took in translation, such as clarifying ancient customs, changing Rhetorical questions to statements, "showing the implied meaning, as in this example:  'No one is equal to our God,' instead of 'Who is equal to our God?'", editing figures of speech, idiomatic expressions ('he rested with his fathers' is changed to, 'he died')…etc.   Some of the writing style reminds me of the Dick and Jane books, short sentences with a lot of periods for punctuation. But it still reads quite well.  Here's a sample from Genesis 42: 1-4:  "Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt.  So he said to his sons, 'Why are you just sitting here looking at one another?  I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.  Go down there and buy grain for us to eat.  Then we will live and not die.'  So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.  But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with them.  Jacob was afraid that something terrible might happen to Benjamin."

The translation appears to be quite good to me, and very understandable for kids.  One of the passages I always go to in Bibles to help give me an idea of the general literalness of the translation is Romans 9:13, and this translation doesn't try to soften it which is a good sign:  "As the Scripture says, "I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau." 

Here are some other excerpts to help give you more of an idea of how this translation reads: 

Rom 8:28, 30. "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.  They are the people God called, because that was his plan…God planned for them to be like his Son.  And those he planned to be like his Son, he also called.  And those he called, he also made right with him.  And those he made right, he also glorified." 

2 Tim. 3: 14-17:  "But you should continue following the teachings that you learned.  You know that these teachings are true.  And you know you can trust those who taught you.  You have known the Holy Scriptures since you were a child.  The Scriptures are able to make you wise.  And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives.  It is useful for correcting faults and teaching how to live right.  Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be ready and will have everything he needs to do every good work."  

The Bible has some fancy pages (with snowflakes of course) scattered throughout with little tidbits on topics like, "How Do I Pray?" , "How Do I know Jesus Better?" and "Knowing Jesus Better".  For the most part those sections seem okay, though I might have an issue with some of the memory verses they suggest like Jeremiah 29:11 which is usually taken out of context and applied specifically to Christians when in actuality it was a promise to the physical descendants of Jacob, not necessarily to present day Gentile Christians.  I just had to mention that. 

Overall, I thought this translation was pretty good. 

 

The FTC guidelines require me to state that I received this Bible for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (my review did not have to be favorable).  Many thanks to the BookLook blogger program.

Amongst other places, this book may be purchased at Amazon

Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor

Little Pilgrim's Progress is a rewritten, illustrated version of Pilgrim's Progress and Christiana for kids.  In this version, Christian is a "Little Pilgrim" who is close friends with a little girl named Christiana who has several little siblings. Christian goes out on his pilgrimage first, and meets with various characters similar to the original Pilgrim's Progress, though some of them have been changed to be boys instead of men.  Christiana goes on her pilgrimage later on in the book with her siblings, where they also encounter Christian's father who has become a Christian and is also journeying to the Celestial City.   

There are two things that I had trouble with regarding this book and this is that first of all Christian's mother, who had gone to the Celestial City before him, is focused upon too much, she is portrayed as if she is watching, and possibly even helping him on his pilgrimage.  Speaking of Christian's mother, one character tells him, "you will find her again, little Christian…And do you know that she often very near to you?  You cannot see her, but she can see you." It took away some of the focus that should belong to God alone as Helper and Protector. We don't want children looking to their dead relatives for help, they should rely upon God!  And then when Christian arrives in the Celestial city and meets his mother he seems more focused upon her than upon the King: "'Does the King live there?' whispered Christian to his mother, for his hand was still clasped in hers.  'Yes,' she replied, 'and when you have knelt before Him and seen His glory, you will be perfectly happy forever.'  'I am happy now,' said little Christian, 'because I have found you, and you love me.'   'Ah yes,' she answered, 'but the love the King is far greater than mine.'" That just seemed very odd…instead of assuming that Christian had learned to love the King above everyone else (especially now that he is in 'Heaven', he loves his mother seemingly above everybody else and has a desire to be with her more than with the King.  It almost makes it seem as though Christian became a 'Christian' only because he wanted to be with his mother! This would be something to talk to children about if they read this book or you read it to them. 

Secondly, I thought that many of the theological dialogues were too dumbed down, and too much was cut out that could have been rendered into language understandable by children, such as the various  Scripture quotations that are cited in the original Pilgrim's Progress.   I could have understood  why the book was written the way it was if the book were for very little children but the back cover says that it is for 8-12 year olds.  Also, I found it odd that though many of the dialogues were very watered down many of the difficult names were left unchanged, such as Diffidence, By-Ends, and Discretion.  Why weren't those simplified as well?   

 But overall I liked the book. Aside from moments like what I mentioned above, most of Christian's focus does seem to be on seeing the King. I did very much like the change of the Monster Apollyon's name to a monster called 'Self'.  Which results in some interesting dialogue, like Christian saying to Self after Self tries to woo him, "The King loves me better than you do, and I would rather live with Him."  And of course Self gets angry with Christian and declares that Christian is his own servant, not the King's, and Self and Christian end up in a big fight with each other. 

All in all it is an interesting read that kept my attention throughout, even when Christiana began her journey and travelled through many of the same places Christian did.  There are many interesting concepts to discuss with children and as I said above, it would be good to talk to children about the flaws of the book as well.

 

Many thanks to Moody Publishers for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to review (My review did not have to be favorable).

You may purchase this book from Christian Book Distributors and other bookstores.

Marie Durand - By Simonetta Carr

Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr is an interesting, though short, account of the Christian lady.  I didn't know anything about Marie before reading this biography, the name sounded familiar but didn't point to any substantive information in my mind. Now, I understand that she was a French lady living during the 1700s who was imprisoned on account of her brother's being a pastor.  She could have gotten out of prison by denying the faith but did not do so and stayed in in prison for 38 years.   

There are interesting illustrations throughout, and also photographs of items and places from Durand's era.  At the end of the book there is a pronunciation key to help one read and pronounce the French words, a 'Did You Know?' section giving more information about the people and lifestyle of that era, and a letter from Marie to her niece Anne.  Also, I liked the Epilogue, where Carr gives an overview of what happened after Marie died. The 'Age of Reason' or Enlightenment was critiqued quite well, and I think in a way that even young children will understand.  Here is a small excerpt:  "During that Age of Reason, or Enlightenment, as that time became known, they started to reject or ignore most teachings human beings can't fully explain, such as that God works miracles, that Jesus is God, or that God is one in three persons."  I especially liked the statement she gives of Paul Rabaut in this section where he states that, "I will not reject a mystery for the only reason that it cannot be understood."  That is a statement that still fits today.  

The only thing that I believe would make this book better would be for it to have a list of other books of Marie Durand and the times in which she lived, so that any children (or adults) who get a thirst for more information on, or a deeper look at, the subject would have some suggested resources already on hand.  But, despite its shortness, this biographical overview is quite inspiring, it shows children (and adults) a Christian whose faith they may strive to imitate.   

Many thanks to the people at Cross Focused Reviews for sending me a review copy of this book(My review did not have to be favorable.

 

One of the places this book may be purchased is at Amazon.com