It may be a faux pas to start a review of one children’s Bible by talking about another, but there is a point to it, I promise you. When my kids were younger, we read a lot of Bible stories. Many of them were delightful, but none stole their heart the way The Storybook Bible has.
The Storybook Bible built up their faith not only by telling them about Scripture, but by telling that the whole Bible was a story of God’s love for them. They worked through one copy of that Bible until it was in tatters and we bought another. It is still the one audiobook that my two middle girls can agree on as a story to listen to as they go to bed.
But as wonderful as those stories are, the book isn’t Catholic. Where oh where -- I have thought for years -- is a children’s Bible that shows the through-line of God’s plan for salvation history in a compelling way for children, but that also conveys the fullness of our faith?
And now it’s here.
The Story of All Stories: A Story Bible for Young Catholics, by author Emily Stimpson Chapman and Illustrator Diana Renzina, truly checks all of this Catholic mom’s boxes.
4 Reasons I love it
It's beautiful. Like many of the books from Word on Fire, the quality of this Bible will make you want to be sure that kids treat it carefully (And hey, it's a Bible, so that’s a good thing!) Its high paper quality and beautiful illustrations make you wonder why you ever use a Kindle when you can read a real hardcover book.
It’s comprehensive. No, it doesn’t include all of the stories of the Bible (your child might not be able to carry a children’s Bible that big), but it does include many stories I sometimes see excluded from children’s Bibles. From Ruth to the death of John the Baptist, children are invited into the richness of the Scriptures, not just the headliners.
It’s Catholic. I’ll never forget the first time I read the book of Tobit in a real Bible and it became my favorite Bible story for years. You’ll find a story on Tobit in this volume and one on the Ministry of Peter, among many others. And importantly, it doesn’t shy away from using Jesus’ actual words during the Last Supper, the words of the consecration “This is my Body.”
It includes actual Scripture verses. If you’re ever torn about giving your kids a children’s Bible lest they not be exposed to actual Scripture, The Story of All Stories does both. It is refreshing to see passages from the Bible as each story opens so that children can see the actual inspired text illuminating what they are about to read.
An investment
While billed as a children’s Bible, I’d say that it is at the reading level of a book that could be given to children at their First Communion and then grow with them. Or, it would make a lovely read-aloud.
As I mentioned, the quality of the book itself is really high, so you may need to mentally prepare yourself for it getting marred by small hands. (Chapman already shared that one of her kids colored on one of their copies!)
The price is an investment, but I won’t hesitate to say it's a worthwhile one. This is the kind of Bible your kids can read for years and then keep to read with their own children.
The introduction reminds us, “The Bible isn’t just another story. It is the story – the story that makes sense of all other stories. It is the story about God and us.”
This is a gift to give your children precisely because in these pages God “reveals who we are and who we are made to be.”
