Also by this author: The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross, The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross Board Book, The Christmas Promise Sunday School Lessons: A Three-Session Curriculum With a Family Service Outline, God’s Big Promises: The First Christmas: Sticker and Activity Book, God’s Big Promises: Advent Calendar and Family Devotions, Christmas Uncut: What Really Happened and Why It Really Matters, God’s Big Promises Christmas Sticker and Activity Book, God's Big Promises: Easter for Little Ones, God's Big Promises Easter Sticker and Activity Book, The God Contest Board Book: Jesus Is the Real God!
Published by Good Book Company on September 1, 2023
Genres: Children's, Bible Stories
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92 foundational Bible stories, faithfully told and beautifully illustrated, which point to the one big story of the Bible―God making and keeping his promises.
Watch children discover God’s big promises and how Jesus keeps every one of them!
Features include:
• 92 faithfully-told stories from the Old & New Testaments
• Simple, memorable language for small children ages 2-6
• 400+ pages filled with vibrant, full-color illustrations
• Bright icons trace 5 themes of God’s promises throughout Scripture
God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook contains both familiar stories, such as Noah & the ark, David & Goliath, and Daniel & the lions’ den, and lesser-known stories such as Jacob & Esau and Simeon & Anna.
Together, these 92 theologically faithful stories point to the one big story of the Bible: God making and keeping his promises to redeem his people.
Bright, colorful icons indicate which stories relate to a promise made or a promise kept within 5 distinct themes:
• Rescue
• People
• Land
• Joy
• King
It is the perfect first Bible to introduce a child to the stories of the Bible and the promise-keeping God who loves them. It also provides a trusted starting point for children to cultivate a lifelong love of God’s word.
This vibrantly illustrated Bible storybook emphasizes God’s promises, showing how God has made and kept different promises throughout redemptive history. These include the obvious, such as God promising to send a savior, along with more subtle and broader themes such as God making promises about his people and promising to bring joy. At the beginning of the book, the author introduces color-coded symbols that represent different promises, and these symbols appear at the sides of different pages whenever God makes or fulfills one of those promises in a story. There is also a list of page numbers for different reading paths, encouraging people to follow particular promise themes through the book.
The first half of God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook covers the Old Testament, and the second half covers the New, highlighting how God fulfilled His promises in Jesus. Carl Laferton adapts familiar stories in simple, kid-friendly ways, and each story is about three to seven pages long, with prominent full-color illustrations. Jennifer Davison’s bold, attractive artwork helps tell each story, and young children who can’t read yet can still flip through the book and recognize what’s going on in many of the stories. The artwork is also ethnically diverse, with a variety of realistic skin tones. I also appreciate that the stories are fully based in Scripture, without imaginative flourishes, fictionalized side details, or assumptions about what different people were thinking.
My one critique is that it was somewhat unpredictable when Laferton would sanitize something versus share sad, violent details. Of course, there are cases where heavy themes are integral to a story, but other tough details were optional to include, and I wondered what his rationale was for which parts he included and which he left out. I’m sure he put a lot of thought into it, but some parents may wish that he had simplified and sanitized things even more, while others may want additional guidance in how to handle teaching their kids about hard, sad things from Scripture.
God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook will appeal to families who want to share Bible stories in a way that emphasizes God’s work instead of primarily focusing on human Bible heroes. This book can help parents teach kids about God’s faithfulness throughout redemptive history, and it’s also a great fit for Sunday school and Christian education settings. This book’s short stories and bold images will capture children’s attention, and adults can find this encouraging and enjoyable as well.