TREASURY OF BIBLE STORIES
By: Donna Jo Napoli
Illustrated by: Christina Balit
Published: October 22, 2019
Publisher: National Geographic Children’s Books
Non-Fiction/Christian
From the Creation story to Baby Moses to David and Goliath to Jonah and the Giant Fish, our favorite stories from the Old Testament are retold with bold illustrations, factual connections, and vivid storytelling. Napoli collaborated with the award-winning artist, Christina Balit, and with Helen Plotkin, the director of the Swarthmore college Study of Classical Jewish Texts, to share these stories. Through these collaborations, we have a treasury of some of the most well-known stories like The Flood and Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and the lesser-known stories like The Tower of Babel, Joseph and His Brothers, and Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.
The illustrations are quite bold and fascinating. The artist chose to represent the people in the stories with various characteristics that you would find of the people living in the areas today. Some pages the people will be darker-skinned than other stories. Her expressions are spot on, showing fear, shock, love, and honor. The shock on David’s face as his rock hits Goliath is exactly how I imagined it would look.
The Bible stories are short and are perfect for a morning study or bedtime reading. Each story offers a factual connection to something in the story. For example, the use of camels and how they survived walking across miles of desert is shared in a box below the story.
One of my favorite Bible stories is the story of Baby Moses from the Book of Exodus. I found the story to be just as I remembered it with a bit of back story and information to make sure children understand the back story and why Moses ended up being the man designated to lead his people.
This compilation of Bible stories would make an excellent gift for a baptism, birthday, or to add to your home library or church library.
Donna Jo Napoli is a professor of linguistics and social justice at Swarthmore College, the mother of five, and the grandmother of eight. She has written more than 80 books for children and young adults including TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. For more check out her website, HERE.
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