The Shadow and the Promise

Redemption Tales #1

by Marty Machowski, Blair Files (Illustrator)

Take a front row seat along with the animals who watch as a terrible shadow mars God’s perfect world―yet redemption is not far behind! While two newly created rock badgers explore their growing world, they encounter a dark foe—the great dragon, the serpent of old. The sinister creature interrupts the badgers’ joyful exploration of the growing landscape to reveal his wicked plan to destroy God’s creation. When the enemy takes flight, the badgers race to warn Adam and Eve of the impending danger. With every thunderous flap of wings, the serpent draws closer to his perch in the forbidden tree. Will the badgers make it in time to expose the evil plan. The Shadow and the Promise by bestselling author Marty Machowski follows the adventures of the animals who witness the events of Genesis and Exodus unfold before them. Join badgers in the Garden of Eden, an array of animals in the Ark, groundhogs at Babel, Abraham’s donkey, sheep from Joseph’s herd, the cats in the palace in Egypt, and a dog and oxen present at the Passover.

Genres: Christian, Childrens, Middle Grade, Audiobook, Christian Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2024

About the author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. As leader of their children’s ministry, Promise Kingdom, he has worked for many years to develop curriculum and devotional material that connect church and home. His passion is equipping families to understand the Bible as one gospel story and help them share that with their children. He is the author of The Gospel Story for Kids series including Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (OT); The Gospel Story Bible; and the Gospel Story Curriculum: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament and the forthcoming Old Story New (NT): Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God and Gospel Story Curriculum: Following Jesus in the New Testament. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐
Genre ~ religious fiction for children
Series ~ Redemption Tales, #1
Setting ~ Garden of Eden
Publication date ~ book ~ February 12, 2o24, audio ~ October 21, 2024
Est Page Count ~ 108 (7 titled chapters)
Audio length ~ 2 hours 8 minutes
Narrator ~ the author
POV ~ of multiple animals
Featuring ~ stories from the Bible ~ genesis and exodus

Introduction:
The Redemption Tales ~ a series of bible stories retold from the perspective of the animals who could have witnessed the events first hand. Follow the conflict of good and evil, the hope of the promised one and the long anticipated return of the king.

"There's something marvelous about a talking animal that makes for a good tale". Indeed!

This would be a great story for young readers. Perhaps a chapter a night as a bedtime story. There are a couple of scary parts, but nothing too bad. Looks like there are some illustrations in the book, so I bet that makes the story extra fun.

Narration notes:
I always like when author's narrate their own books. I feel it gives it a little extra umph.

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[Emma Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the book would be perfect to read aloud to your animal loving young elementary aged child as part of family devotions or just for fun and to help them understand the Gospel through the whole story of the Bible. It tells Bible stories through the perspectives of the animals who were there to witness the events. This one took you from Genesis through the Israelites escape from slavery with Moses. Very fast for me to read but I’m glad I did as I’ll happily read it again with the girls someday!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marty Machowski’s The Shadow and the Promise is the first book in The Redemption Tales series and takes readers on a journey through various Bible stories, looking at it from the perspective of the animals. Readers experience first hand accounts from the animals as they see the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, The Tower of Babel, Abraham’s Sacrifice, and Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors unfold. As the animals are observing the humans behavior in each story, the animals marvel at how easily the humans react to God and the situations they are in. From the first story in The Shadow and the Promise to the last, the animals wonder how God will rectify the damage the humans have done to His Creation. In each story Daniel the Dove visit the animals, reminded them that God’s answer to fixing the damage humans created is in The Shadow and the Promise.

The Shadow and the Promise is one of the most creative books I have read by Marty Machowski. I love that Mr. Machowski wrote The Shadow and the Promise from the animals perspective. I love how Mr. Machowski wrote the animals to have an innate instinct of who their Creator is and the Respect and Awe He deserves. I love the Bible stories Mr. Machowski uses and that he wrote them in order as they are in the Bible. I also love the Biblical references that are included in each story at the end of each chapter. I love that Daniel the Dove was a main thread through the entire book. I believe The Shadow and the Promise would be perfect for any young reader up to an adult. I also think The Shadow and the Promise could be a good pick for a Christian Book Club (especially if you wanted to start one for young ones) or a youth Bible Study. You could also use The Shadow and the Promise in a Christian Education setting or a use it as a part of a Family Devotion Time. I love The Shadow and the Promise from beginning to end and cannot wait to see what Marty Machowski does with The Redemption Tales! I highly recommend The Shadow and the Promise by Marty Machowski!

Have you read The Shadow and the Promise? What did you think of the book?

I would like to thank New Growth Press for giving me a copy of The Shadow and the Promise to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My review is also on my blog, Leslie's Library Escape.

[Spencer R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my full review at SpoiledMilks (August 29, 2024)

How do we get our kids interested in the Bible? In the Old Testament? How do we get them to see the point of the Old Testament, in all of its odd detailed-ness, and how it points to Jesus? Marty Machowski has taken seven Bible stories and reimagined them through the eyes of animals who have witnessed the events firsthand. The stories aren’t changed, only the perspectives through which they are read.

Each chapter begins with a pair of animals running around hanging out with other animals. They either run into the serpent (as in the first two chapters) or straight into the biblical event. Through a wise white dove named Daniel, Machowski shows how these OT stories foreshadow how Jesus will rescue and redeem his people. Each chapter ends with a good list of Bible verses that contribute to that story’s theology. The book ends with study questions and an answer key for each chapter.

One thing I really appreciated was that Machowski's properly interprets Scripture. Not only does he point accurately to Jesus, he interprets the OT texts well. One perfect example is in chapter 4 with the binding of Isaac (Gen 22). Machowski doesn’t interpret Abraham’s obedience to God’s command as a leap of faith, but focuses on promises to Abraham as the basis for Abraham’s obedience (Gen 15:12–14).

Recommended?
This is a fun book for kids going through the stories they know while faithfully pointing them to Jesus and his work for us. I have read a few of Machowski’s works, and I really appreciate his emphasis on the gospel and how he properly interprets the stories. He is able to relay the Bible’s message to children without making it childish, showing that it is possible to teach them gospel truths and God’s overarching message without goofy antics.

Disclosure: I received this book free from New Growth Press. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun little book! This book shares stories throughout both Genesis to Exodus from the eyes of animals. I thought this was a creative and fun way to share Bible stories and Biblical truths to young readers. I really appreciated the Truth Behind the Tales which includes study questions referring back to the Word of God. I could see this book/ series being used for a Sunday school class or Bible school, complete with animal puppets for re-enacting the stories within.

I think my favorite story was "Are you an Ostrich?" Gabi was such a likeable character, and I can see young readers laughing aloud at her antics.
In two other stories, the following quotes really stuck out to me and made me think about the application in my own life:

"Then I will not turn away...I will watch God's plan unfold (through my master)"

Even when things look dark or hopeless, we should trust His plan and not look away, but look to Him and watch His plan unfold.
And:

"Complaining closes your eyes to the blessings around you."

I believe this wholeheartedly and often share similar advice to my husband and kids, we have to look for the good (sometimes it's hard to find, but it is always their) because Jesus is our Lord, Savior, friend, protector, etc. The list goes on.

I would absolutely recommend this for young readers and families.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand what this book and most likely the rest of the series is trying to do, which is explaining to kids stories from the Bible that point to Jesus using animals to communicate those Truths. My problem is each story within this first volume got very repetitive really fast through the eyes of an adult. The basic format is something happens that endangers the promise and a character swoops in to say it's going to be okay. This made me really annoyed.

While I am not annoyed, I am a bit uncomfortable with Daniel the Dove. Is he supposed to be the Holy Spirit? If he is then I am highly uncomfortable with someone giving the Holy Spirit a name besides Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Paraclete, and possibly other names. I mean the author could have called him Spirit, but I feel like the author really liked alliteration and similar names to what species the animal characters were. Also, what is the author going to do when he gets to Daniel and the lions' den? Is he going to skip that story?

Verdict: I understand the purpose of the story, but the format got old and did not feel like a comprehensive story. From my understanding of them, it felt more like an after-school special. Also, someone missed at least 3 times how to spell "heel" as in a part of your foot, because it was spelled as "heal".

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever thought about how animals might view different events in our lives? I love the concept of The Shadow and the Promise. Author Marty Machowski retells some well-known Bible stories from the point of view of the animals that might have experienced the story. The Shadow and the Promise is the first book in his new series Redemption Tales. The stories in this volume can be found in the Biblical books of Genesis and Exodus.
The stories in The Shadow and the Promise can be read as short stories. They would make good bedtime stories or classroom read-alouds. They would also make good examples for challenging students to rewrite stories (Bible or other or even real life events) through the eyes of an animal.I would advise adult discretion in sharing the pictures with young children as some of the illustrations are a bit scary. Other than that they do a great job of helping children visualize the story.
The Shadow and the Promise would be a good addition to a K-12 Christian school library. It is appropriate as a read-aloud for all ages, as a read-alone for upper elementary and up, and as a writing example for all ages.
I received a complimentary copy of The Shadow and the Promise. This is my honest review.

[Debs Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'd think that a book of Bible stories being narrated by animals would be childish but this is not. The author did such a beautiful job choosing his animals. Groundhogs almost caught by diggers building Babel, cats in Joseph's palace that kill snakes to protect the humans & oxen that can't decide if they are better off free from Egypt or stay in slavery. These stories go deeper than you'd expect. A dove named Daniel always shows up to tell the creatures how what they are living out will be tied to Jesus and the ultimate promise.

Since each chapter is a different Bible story, I think this would make a really fun book to read together as a family. I promise it will generate conversation both serious and fun. The website says it's for ages 8-12, but in a family setting I think you could spread those age brackets out. There are questions and answers in the back for further study/discussion.

Note: The book has more stories than I mentioned. They are all Old Testament, but all are linked to Jesus. The book has amazing illustrations-black and white sketches.

[Sheila G · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children and I listened to this during a few long car rides. The audiobook was available to listen to through the Dwell app. The author narrated and characterized each individual character well, and my children thoroughly enjoyed his talent to portray such a wide variety of voices. The Shadow and the Promise tells major Bible stories and events from the perspective of animals, and gives an alternative and engaging view to make these stories even more memorable for children.

This is a great listen or read for elementary-aged children.

[Kate Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shadow and the Promise covers select Bible stories from creation to the Passover, told from the perspective of the animals. The animals really kept my kids engaged and added humor without compromising the biblical accounts of these stories. We loved Daniel the dove who showed up in every chapter to explain how each story points to Gods redemption plan as he answers the animals questions. This book is definitely worth buying! Perfect for morning basket during homeschool, family devotions or for independent readers.

[Julie Bump · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story told from the animals perspective of biblical accounts. As always with Marty, the biblical content was solid. I found the characters amusing but was disappointed to see they were not connected across chapters. Meeting new characters each chapter made it hard for the flow of the story and for building depth. I think a few more illustrations would have been helpful too. Overall cute read, I think my kids will like it.

[Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations really brought the stories to life!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud with Lewis (6), and was very fun and engaging.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is like a series of short stories. Each depicting a Bible story from an animals point of view. The concept is very clever but I would have liked the stories to connect to each other.

[Casey Cone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked that it showed the events from the Bible but from the animals view.

[Liza Tabita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book for children! I was interested to go through it, in case it ever gets translated in Rumanian.
For small children it might get them confused with what the Bible says and what comes from the author’s imagination. For kids that are over 10 years old this book might be a great plus for the Bible reading. The idea of following the animal’s perspective through the Biblie stories made me interested in the books content.
Cute, but not great.