5
This beautiful book combines lively text and stunning illustrations to bring stories of the Hebrew tradition alive. All the key events in the Hebrew Bible are clearly told in this superb collection of biblical stories for children. There are also four new stories, including "Ezekiel and the Dry Bones" and "Ezra Shares God's Word".
It also features the key characters and tells their tales: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; Cain and Abel; Noah on the Ark; and the patriarchs. Psalms and poetry are also included, and pages on "Life in Egypt" and "Life in Canaan" - along with glossaries of people and places in the Bible - bring the stories of ancient tradition to life.
In the book's foreword, the authors say that we are encouraged to think for ourselves: "The stories of the Bible... can be understood in many ways and on many different levels [and] as we grow up and change, we can see new questions in each story... To write the stories in this book, we looked at the Bible and asked many, many questions. How? What? When? Who? And of course, why? Why, why, why? And why not?"
The authors' perfectly pitched retellings aren't simply an introduction to the Bible - they inspire the next generation to carry on the tradition.