The Jesus Storybook Bible

I thought I'd take a moment to use my tiny little corner of the internet to plug what I think is one of the greatest Christian resources for kids out there. I ran across "The Jesus Storybook Bible" one Sunday morning about 9 months ago when we were staying home from church because one of the kids was sick and Kim and I decided that we should have our own "church service" with the kids. When we were trying to think of what to teach them, we realized that we take them to church and read them Veggie Tales books, etc, but that it had been a long time since we had really explained the Gospel to them. So Kim went to their chalkboard and drew the classic picture of the canyon with man on one side and God on the other, and then the cross that makes the bridge between the two sides of the canyon. Medium actually prayed to accept Christ that day! Anyway, after seeing the way they were able to grasp that and how much they were hanging on to Kim's every word, I realized that we had probably been selling them short in terms of how much they could grasp of the "Big Truths" of the Bible even at their age, and that it was already time they graduated from Veggie Tales. So I hopped on the internet to find a resource for kids that would help us to do this, and when I found this book I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. The author is Sally Lloyd-Jones (no relation), who is also the author of many other children's books. I didn't even realize at first that Lloyd-Jones is a member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, the pastor of which is Tim Keller, of whom I am a huge fan (Kim would probably call me a groupie. In fact one of my Christmas gifts from her this past Christmas was that she pre-ordered Keller's new book for me. The book has not yet arrived, and as Kim can tell you I am extremely bitter that this guy already has his! But I digress.) Tim Keller says this about "The Jesus Storybook Bible":

“I would urge not just families with young children to get this book, but every Christian—from pew warmers, to ministry leaders, seminarians and even theologians! Sally Lloyd-Jones has captured the heart of what it means to find Christ in all the scriptures, and has made clear even to little children that all God's revelation has been about Jesus from the beginning—a truth not all that commonly recognized even among the very learned.” - Tim Keller

I couldn't agree more! The book is really good and it shows that the Bible is not just a collection of stories but it's one Story, and the Hero of the Story of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ! The kids love it as well and we have read through it I think 3 times now.

Sally Lloyd-Jones's website has an excerpt from the book.

Go out and get it!