I have been collecting Bible story books over the past several years to help me understand the market better and to get illustration ideas for my own Bible story books. I thought I would comment on some of them here.
I feel it might be helpful to share my feelings about Bible story books in general so you will better understand where I am coming from when I make my comments. I realize that not everyone agrees with me on some of these issues and that’s okay. That’s why I want to be upfront about my perspective in the first place.
- Bible stories should be accurate. It is okay to leave out details that children won’t understand, but not if the part that is left out contains the foundation for the spiritual side of the story. It is okay to expand on part of the story in a way that increases understanding as long as it doesn’t create new “information” that is not biblically sound. An author should not change the basics elements of the story to make it sound better. (I allow exception for this in fiction that is based on Biblical content.)
- Small children like to see cute illustrations, but I can’t help but wonder if all this cuteness tends to encourage children to think these Bible stories are just more fairy tales like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. If children are started out on cutesy illustrations, they need to be given upgrades to more realistic Bible story books at the appropriate time to counteract the fairy tale concept before it has a chance to take root. Sadly, I fear this has already taken root in the minds of many adults, and as a result they never took personal Bible study seriously.
- It thrills me to see supplemental information in Bible story books. This can be presented in sidebars and inserts to give additional information about the cultural settings for the time of the story to give greater depth and insights.
- I like to see questions that encourage children to think about what the story means and how it applies to their own lives.
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