The Storyteller's Bible

On eating carrots, telling stories, and reading story Bibles

“I always eat my carrots ever since you told me that story.”

So said my daughter recently, referring to a story I’d told her years ago about a girl who wouldn’t eat her carrots—until the day her carrots tried to eat her. I’d forgotten all about that story until she told it back to me, laughing, but I loved the reminder that stories (even winging-it-in-a-moment-of-dinnertime-drama stories) help truths land differently than mere instructions do. If I’d simply told her to eat her carrots—and surely I already had, many times—would she still eat them, with such consistency and dedication, all these years later? I doubt it.

And this is one part of why I love the Bible so much. Jesus didn’t lecture his disciples about the kingdom of God—he told them parables that helped them see it. God didn’t merely tell us he loves us—he illustrated again and again, in story after story, how unchanging his love is and how committed he is to our redemption. We may forget the truth sometimes, but we remember the stories.

Kathryn Butler does a beautiful job with this in her children’s Bible, The Storyteller’s Bible. Not only does she emphasize God as The Storyteller, but she retells the biblical stories in a way that allows parents to read them as though they are the storytellers reflecting God’s good story to their children. She offers breaks for questions that invite children to participate in the telling, and she wrote the prose deliciously, so it’s fun to read aloud.

The illustrations, by an assortment of artists from Breezy Brookshire to Wazza Pink to Aedan Peterson, add another layer of beauty for young imaginations to enjoy. I love the idea of having a range of artists at work in one volume, as each artist depicts the text differently, illuminating it from a new angle. The characters look different from page to page, which gives young readers a visual reminder that these are artistic renderings, not historical records.

I suppose one of these days all my daughters will have officially outgrown story Bibles—but I’m grateful we’re not there yet! Because The Storyteller’s Bible¹ is a treasure, and we’re enjoying it immensely.

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You can find more books reviews like this one (many more!) at Little Book, Big Story.

1. Though I did receive a free copy of this book for review, I am not being paid to promote it. My enthusiasm for this book is abundant and purely voluntary.