How a Children’s Bible Storybook Goes South

It’s a bit too easy and at the same time, rather too hard to buy a biblically accurate children’s Bible storybook. You can purchase almost any book on the internet with a click, but you can’t hold it and skim it before you purchase it. That leaves you trusting the author and publisher for an accurate and compelling rendering of Scripture. This should be a sufficient guideline, but it isn’t. Even noted Christian publishers release books that, in my mind, do not reflect the truth of Scripture. My best response to this dilemma is to be willing to return the book or amend it by writing in the text.

This is an overview of how I choose a book to recommend for my blog, church, or grandchildren. There are several ways a Bible storybook can go south, but in general, if it tells a different story than Scripture tells, it ought not to be considered Christian. However, determining this is not as easy as it sounds. It requires close reading and comparing it with Scripture. I have been surprised by how many times I needed to fact-check details. Sometimes I learned small details I had not known. Sadly, in most cases I found errors.

Part 1- Ways Bible Stories Tell a Different Story than Scripture

1.     When the Story is Not the Gospel but rather Moralism and Character Formation You’ve heard the all-to-familiar “Be like David, or be like Daniel.” Or, “Don’t sin.” Or, “Help the poor.” These are all good things, but they are not the Gospel. The men and women in Scripture whose lives we revere reflected God’s grace and mercy but they were not perfect. The Gospel is the truth that you and I enter this world with a “born-in-want-to” to do wrong.” No one had to teach us how to hide our clothes under the bed instead of hanging them up. No one had to teach us how to eat the forbidden chocolate chip cookie before dinner. No one had to teach us to criticize our loved ones, to harbor murderous thoughts, or to steal, lie, or cheat. Our sins come naturally.

The Gospel is the story that we need to be redeemed from our destructive and sinful ways, and that we cannot do this on our own. We cannot outweigh our bad deeds with good ones on a “salvation” or “goodness” scale. No amount of “not hitting your sister,” “sharing your last cookie,” or “obeying your mom” saves us. We do those things out of gratitude to God for what He has done for us. But they are not the means by which we receive forgiveness from God. Apart from the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection, our sins would not be forgiven. We would have no hope of reconciliation with our Creator. It is imperative that a children’s Bible storybook tell the truth about our sin and about Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. We become followers of Jesus by believing in his death for us. We don’t merit salvation for “being good.” Obedient living is an outflow of our salvation. We will still sin, but we are called to repent and ask forgiveness to be restored to fellowship with God and those we have hurt. Any message contrary to this is not the Gospel.

2.     When the Gospel is Omitted Entirely in most any New Testament story. I’m always looking for a reference to Christ as the redeemer for our sins, or a note that a particular story is part of God’s larger story of redemption. The most common problems I’ve seen are stories about Jesus’ death and resurrection with no mention of why he had to die. We are saved by the death of the risen Christ. He didn’t simply die because the Jewish leaders wanted him gone. That’s who God used, but it’s not why He died. He didn’t die because He was too meek and mild and couldn’t have stopped it. Jesus died in obedience to God as atonement for our sins. He was the sacrificial Lamb of God foretold in the OT sacrificial system. As John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Also, Jesus’ resurrection proved that Jesus was who He said He was-God’s Son. It proved that his death satisfied God’s judgment. Those who believe in Jesus’ “once for all atonement for sin” are right with God. They are no longer separated from God by their sin. Jesus is the divine Son of God who came to redeem us from sin.

3.     When a Bible Character is the Hero of the story. I wish my life emulated Daniel’s or Joseph’s and I’m sure you do too, but the main actor, the hero of all the Bible is God. He walked with Daniel. He never left Joseph. He sustained each of them.. They persevered in waiting and in hope. They did not know if they would die or be left in prison for life. But they believed that He was ordering their lives because that’s what God does. You and I aren’t Daniel or Joseph. We can look to God like they did, but we don’t do it by being like them. We do it by remembering who God is and what He promises to us. Hr walks with us in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He is with us until the end of the age. It is God who carries us. We do not have that power.

Part 2 - Ways Bible Stories Tell an Insufficient Story 

1.     When the Gospel is compressed to a brief sentence or paragraph so much so that it feels squeezed in, doesn’t flow with the text, or is inserted as an aside. This isn’t a fatal flaw, but it is not good writing.

2.     When the story is banal, boring. Don’t buy it. All of us work diligently to keep the message of the Gospel alive and beautiful as we teach our children. It really is a sin to bore kids with the Gospel.

3.     When the art, the front cover, the language, the tone, and/or the font are not compelling or readable. For children’s books, especially for non-readers, artwork often carries at least half the weight of the story. It needs to be appropriate and, whenever possible, excellent. Thus, the illustrations are crucial.. I dislike overly stylized pictures in which people are depicted as highly animated, brightly colored cartoon characters. Widely grinning angels, smiling grasshoppers, and excessively happy people strike me as overly emotional and, at some level, trivialize the Bible story. Pictures ought to reflect the ancient Near East people and culture in which Scripture was written. Minimally, that includes skin color, dress, and settings congruous with Middle Eastern life 2,000-3,000 years ago.

There are many ways to portray God’s stories with respect and accuracy while attracting young readers. Jago, the artist for the Jesus Storybook Bible, communicates the emotions and settings of the text well. He hides a character’s lips behind beards or head scarves and yet gives us clues about someone’s emotions with a raised eyebrow, a scrunched forehead, or wide-open eyes. Jago’s compelling artwork fits the text and suits its young audience. Work like Jago’s is expensive and increases the cost of publishing the book. Yet well-drawn pictures draw our children into God's story as much as, or more than, the words do. These are the ugly ducklings that reflect poorly on the beauty of God’s story. This is a judgment call. Don’t be afraid to make it.