4.5 stars, rounded up.
This vibrantly illustrated Bible storybook emphasizes God's promises, showing how God has made and kept different promises throughout redemptive history. These include the obvious, such as God promising to send a savior, along with more subtle and broader themes such as God making promises about his people and promising to bring joy. At the beginning of the book, the author introduces color-coded symbols that represent different promises, and these symbols appear at the sides of different pages whenever God makes or fulfills one of those promises in a story. There are also page numbers listed for different reading paths, encouraging people to follow particular promise themes through the book.
The first half of this book covers the Old Testament, and the second half covers the New, highlighting how God fulfilled His promises in Jesus. Carl Laferton adapts familiar stories in simple, kid-friendly ways, and each story is about three to seven pages long, with prominent full-color illustrations. Jennifer Davison's bold, attractive artwork helps tell each story, and young children who can't read yet can still flip through the book and recognize what's going on in many of the stories. The artwork is also ethnically diverse, with a variety of realistic skin tones. I also appreciate that the stories are fully based in Scripture, without imaginative flourishes, fictionalized side details, or assumptions about what different people were thinking.
My one critique is that it was somewhat unpredictable when Laferton would sanitize something versus share sad, violent details. Of course, there are cases where heavy themes are integral to a story, but other tough details were optional to include, and I wondered what his rationale was for which parts he included and which he left out. I'm sure he put a lot of thought into it, but some parents may wish that he had simplified and sanitized things even more, while others may want additional guidance in how to handle teaching their kids about hard, sad things from Scripture.
God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook will appeal to families who want to share Bible stories in a way that emphasizes God's work instead of primarily focusing on human Bible heroes. This book can help parents teach kids about God's faithfulness throughout redemptive history, and it's also a great fit for Sunday school and Christian education settings. This book's short stories and bold images will capture children's attention, and adults can find this encouraging and enjoyable as well.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.