Grandpa’s Box: Retelling the Biblical Story of Redemption

by Starr Meade, Bruce Van Petter (Illustrator)

It was a wooden box, simply made. "I guess you could call it my war chest," Grandpa said. As the children peered into the box, they saw many small figures--animals, people, and objects of all kinds. A number of them were carved from wood.

Learn along with Marc and Amy as Grandpa shares his stories of the great war we are all fighting. See how his special box of wooden carvings illustrates the wonderful stories of the Bible.

Starr Meade, the author of the popular Training Hearts, Teaching Minds , takes children to a deeper understanding of God's plan of redemption told throughout all of Scripture. Each chapter emphasizes what we learn about God, not just what we learn about individual characters in the Bible.

Genres: Christian, Childrens, History, Faith, Christianity

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2005

About the author

Starr Meade served as director of children’s ministries for ten years at her local church and taught Latin and Bible for eight years in a Christian school. She is a graduate of Arizona College of the Bible and has authored a number of books, including Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. Starr and her husband live in Arizona where she currently teaches home school students and is mother to three grown children and three grandsons.

Reviews

[Myersandburnsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a family read aloud for our mornings together. We each gleaned new details about Scripture and the people and stories found in it. Although this is not the richest language, the story is interesting enough to keep all my kids engaged. A great overview of how redemption and eternal hope is woven throughout the entirety of the Bible. To God be the glory!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of how a Grandpa disciples and intertwines his faith through daily interactions and conversations with his grandkids after school.
Recommended with the homeschool curriculum Heart of Dakota- Preparing year. But great bedtime devotional going through the Bible touching on key parts as "war stories" as Satan attacks again and again trying to stop God's promise to Adam and Eve to send a Savior.

[Amanda Tungseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully written story of God's redemption told by war stories a grandfather tells his grandchildren. Each chapter is a different Bible "war story" of how Satan fails to win the battle.
I've read it aloud to my kids twice, and it is one of our favorites!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent, big picture overview of the redemptive storyline of Scripture aimed at kids (ages 9-12). Starr Meade is faithful to the Scriptures and demonstrates in a creative and engaging way over 42 stories how the whole Bible is all about Jesus.

[Aimee Fuhrman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a unique book. I have read fictionalized retellings of Bible stories, and I've read allegories of the Gospel. But Grandpa's Box combines the story of fictional characters--two kids and their grandfather--and retellings of biblical events. Grandpa, in an effort to give his grandkids an overview of God's entire plan for humanity, sets out to tell his them the major stories found in the Bible all from the standpoint of an epic war being fought, with each story serving as a single battle.

This unique setup does two things. First, it gives kids a good overview of Scripture from creation to the end of the world (Revelation). Second, it helps them see how God has been and continues to be in control of history. It all serves his purpose.

I read this to my 11-year-old son, and he was okay with it, though ideally it would be better for 5-9 year-olds. He did appreciate the fact that the kids in the story have grown up going to Sunday school and already know these stories, so Grandpa elaborates on them, adding details they might not have known. (The author really did a great job here! If your child has grown up hearing Bible stories they'll still learn something new. And if they haven't, they won't be lost.)

All in all, I'd recommend this for family devotions or bedtime stories for elementary kiddos.

[Jerome Bushnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in summer 2017 with the wife and kids. Such a dynamic narrative of God's story in and through creation. The whole family can easily understand, and it is written in such a way as to keep the children interested throughout. 1 chapter at a time was hardly enough.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second time through this book with a second set of children. While I love how the stories tie into the gospel and God’s sovereignty, I feel like there was a lot of extra “fluff” that could have been edited out or better written.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written for children and is excellent for reading aloud together. The book goes through the major stories of the Bible in a thematic fashion.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our family loves this book! Such a unique and sweet way to communicate Biblical truth with our young kids. We plan to re-read it several times and we have already purchased it for several friends.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read it a few years ago. I looked it up for a friend and realized I hadn’t rated it.
We loved it also.

[Patty Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to read with your children - we had amazing discussions after each chapter! Sons are six and eight!!!

[Brittany Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our family loved this telling of the redemption story. It brought about so many great conversations and gave great perspective to the story of the Bible. I highly recommend this book.

[Aleena Grosjean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably one of my favorite read-alouds to do with Isaac. It took you from Genesis to Revelation and revealed how Jesus is the hero of the story in every battle!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and engaging way to tell the story of Salvation. My children and I enjoyed it as a read aloud very much.

[Creighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teaches such good Biblical lessons for all ages!!!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good way to get an overview of the biblical story. My little kids enjoyed it.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! I cannot wait to re-read this one with each of my children!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a PHENOMENAL book! I highly recommend it as a read aloud to read with your kiddos! My kids are 11 and 13, and they loved it too!

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since The Jesus Storybook Bible, have we enjoyed such a wonderful collection of bible stories... The Jesus Storybook bible was unique in that it connected all of the bible stories through one central theme: Jesus. Grandpa's Box connects all of the bible stories by relating them as battles in God's War against Satan...

I'm hard pressed to say who enjoyed this book more: me or Luke... I've never looked at the bible through this lens before and it was fascinating and refreshing!

This book VERY much appealed to my son... war stories tend to pique his interest!

I can't recommend this book highly enough... 5+ stars!

[Scott Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Grandpa's Box, 42 Bible stories are retold by Grandpa to his grandchildren Amy and Marc. In each story, Grandpa uses carved figures from his box to tell a part of the big story of God's war on Satan and his plan to redeem people.

The theology in this is great. The Bible stories are told in a way that reveals God as the hero of each story, and locates the story in the One Big Story.

I guess the interaction between Grandpa and his grandchildren gets a bit wearing after a while. I mean, how canny is Grandad, that he can turn any conversation into the chronologically next in order story that needs to be told?! But other than that, this has been gold for our family devotional times.

[Matt Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one big story of the Bible is told, drawing from 42 turning points in the biblical meta-narrative. Meade tracks the theme of cosmic warfare from Genesis to Revelation. The content is solid. If the exchanges between Grandpa and the kids were more interesting, I would've bumped the rating. Meade is capable (see Keeping Holiday) of blending theological content and creative prose. That said, I'm glad our family read this. Learned much.

[Wendy Rabe]

This book would be a good readaloud for the family, since older siblings would enjoy it, as well as the littler ones. Old and New Testaments stories are tied to the warfare theme introduced in the Garden of Eden after the fall -- the battle between the woman's seed and the serpent's seed. In each story, God is the conquering hero, delivering a people set apart for His name.

[Jamie Sheff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't finished this book yet. We used this during our second year of homeschooling. It follows a little boy, a little girl, and their Grandpa. The Grandpa tells them "war stories" from the Bible, making them so easy to understand. I kept this book when I resold our curriculum because I wanted to be able to read it to my Grandchildren.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's approach to the Bible was explaining the war that has been and still is raging between Satan and God. It is all exposed and explained by a loving Grandpa to his Grandkids. Meade did a wonderful job explaining biblical truths often from a different perspective than I've experienced before.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent survey of some of the high points of redemptive history -- very engaging for kids. My son and I really enjoyed reading this together over the summer.

[TS · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are reading this as part of our curriculum for history/bible. It is required reading for our unity study.

[Michael Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful children's story. Writing style isn't preferable, but great content.

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A grandfather tells his grandchildren the story of the Bible using figures in a special box.

1st Read January 2010.
David read to the family June 2017

[David West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished a second reading to the family.