BECOMING like little children must be one of the most ignored of Dominical commands. I miss the excuse of being a teacher for buying and reading children’s books, but I do so anyway. These two books would enhance the life of any Christian who is seeking to answer the question “WWJD?”.
I would, however, recommend buying both books. All too often, the Bible is seen as separate from the Church and as a source of easy stories for children. Children deserve more than easy stories. Children like and benefit from complexity and difficulty. They need to hear the “texts of terror” if they are to make sense of the world and its terror.
Tom Wright is fully aware of the dangers of children’s Bibles. As an eminent theologian and biblical scholar, he is well placed to produce an excellent Bible for children, and he has done so. His introduction is well worth reading. The only Christian RE course for schools that I value is the Understanding Christianity course, with its brilliant frieze presenting salvation history as a whole, Genesis to Revelation. Wright’s Bible for children does just that.
Jack Seymour’s illuminated letter “C” from P is for Pilgrim — including Cross, Christian, Church, Christ, Christmas, Creation, and Confirmation
Alongside the Wright Bible, Stephen Cottrell’s P is for Pilgrim provides the essential ecclesial dimension. An A to Z of Catholic Christianity, it is superbly illustrated by Jack Seymour (and by the Archbishop himself) with lino cuts. This is a beautiful book that any Christian home will be graced by, whether the children are old or young.
Tom Wright talks of “God’s big story” in his Bible. Stephen Cottrell in words and pictures in his A to Z shows how big that story is. These are books worth reading, worth owning, if we are to become as little children.
The Very Revd Richard Peers is a former Dean of Llandaff.
My Big Story Bible: 140 faithful stories, from Genesis to Revelation
Tom Wright
Helena Perez Garcia, illustrator
SPCK £16.99
(978-0-281-08561-3)
Church Times Bookshop £15.29
P is for Pilgrim
Stephen Cottrell
Jack Seymour, illustrator
Hodder & Stoughton £12.99
(978-1-3998-0527-8)
Church Times Bookshop £11.69