Once in awhile, a book comes along that is just simply a feast for the senses. “The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden” is one such book.
The concept, or dream if you will, of this story is one by Pastor Kevin DeYoung, the senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, near Michigan State. Kevin and his wife Trish have six kids! So who better to write a children’s book??
As Kevin tells the story, it was a Sunday night close to Christmas, and instead of “preaching” his sermon, he wrote a story and read it to his congregation just as if he was reading to his children. His dream was that someday that story would be turned into a book, complete with illustrations. And now that dream has become reality, and real life is stunningly more beautiful than his dreams could have imagined.
Illustrator Don Clark has done a superb job. In fact, the illustrations are what reach out and grab you with this book; they are what will make you pull the book from the shelf at the bookstore for a closer look. The illustrations are colorful and bright – just the kind of thing that will capture a child’s imagination, yet they are not overblown and gaudy.
I love the way that Clark has drawn the people. They look like Biblical characters – illustrated but not “cartooned”.
I confess that I’d be hard pressed to say which page is my favorite.
I love DeYoung’s writing style, too. This story is told in simple to understand language with a lot of humor. I think it’s highly appealing to the younger grade school crowd. There are certain parts that my 8 year old laughs out loud at each time we read it. For instance, when talking about the tower of Babel, DeYoung says, “One time, a whole bunch of people got together to build a giant tower. They thought they could build all the way up to heaven. But it must not have been all that big because God had to come down just to see it.” Ha!
The book is 129 pages long, and it’s the perfect length and balance of story to illustrations that my little guy can read on his own. At the same time, we enjoy reading it together and discovering all kinds of things in the illustrations. There’s a lot of imagery in the book and it takes you from the very beginning of creation all the way to Christ and our glorious hope of heaven.
Theologically and doctrinally sound, the story does not water down the gospel – it’s simply a beautiful retelling that will appeal to both little hearts and big.
This would be a wonderful Christmas gift that will become part of a treasured library for years to come.
And we’re giving one away! Just leave a comment with your favorite Biblical Character and we’ll choose a winner in a few days! And check out these links:
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