Tomie dePaola's Book of Bible Stories

by Tomie dePaola

Originally published in 1990, this stunningly illustrated collection is now a classic. Tomie dePaola lovingly brings to life thirty-seven well-known Bible stories and Psalms, featuring some of the most memorable and significant people in both the Old and New Testaments. Readers will be caught up in the dramatic events of the stories, all vividly portrayed in wonderful detail-including Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, Jonah and the Big Fish, and accounts of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. With its brilliant illustrations, and the addition of a note from Tomie and a beautifully redesigned jacket, this special anniversary edition is perfect for the whole family to share.

Genres: Picture Books, Religion, Childrens, Christian, Catholic, Folklore, Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 1990

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 4 out of 5]

With text from the NIV, Tomie dePaola presents Bible stories in his trademark style. I like that the text is straight from an English translation and not rewritten for children, though this makes the story length uneven. It is a helpful bridge between reading grown-up Bibles and Bible storybooks. I really love the way he pictures the stories, especially the annunciation and the Last Supper. Though the story of Jesus welcoming the children is not told in the book, an illustration of it accompanies 1 Corinthians 13, titled "Love Is Most Important," and it is beautiful. I have been wanting to have a good title on hand to give at church baby showers and I think this will be my choice!

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an illustrated children’s book of stories from the Bible. The publisher states the age range for this book is from ages 4 to 8. In terms of school grade level that is from preschool to third grade. I thought this was a good book to have for Christian parents to read to their children. I personally read this work to my kids at night before they went to sleep.
In terms of the writing the content comes straight from the Bible specifically the New International Version. As I was reading it I thought about how there should be more books like this where the text is just the Word of God itself. I really appreciated this book coming straight from the Bible as I want my kids to hear the Word of God and not just someone’s pharaphrase, summary or retelling of it (though it has its place). The stories cover the Old and New Testament and cover important stories from Genesis to the New Testament such as God’s creation, Noah’s flood, David and Goliath, etc. I wished it cover something from Revelation but I was delighted to see the book include several different Psalms.
The illustrator is Tomie DePaola. I think the cover art of the book fairly represented the general artwork of the illustrator. When I looked at the cover and the pages of the book I thought his artwork and ways of illustrating look familiar. My wife and kids right away told me other works he has illustrated. DePaola has illustrated various children’s classics such as Strega Nona, The Knight and the Dragon, The Art Lesson, Big Anthony, etc. His artwork reminded of own childhood of long forgotten books. Yet the illustrations was something that my kids in the twentieth first century also enjoyed. As I was finishing up the review I did a further search online about the illustrator and it seems he has some kind of Catholic influence if not a Catholic himself. I be cautious with some of his other religious books he has illustrated for.

[Rubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy Tomie's art when I read his books. That holds true for the collection of Bible stories.
I understand it was a book for children, but....some stories, like that of the creation seemed basically quoted straight from the Bible. And other stories seemed cut short, leaving out important part of the story, which was a bit disappointing.
But not bad overall. Nice collection of Bible stories and short enough to keep a child's attention. And again, cute art to illustrate and bring the stories to life 😄

[Jane Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of nostalgia with Tomie DePaola's illustrations. He illustrates with a medieval reverence, but a folkart whimsy grounds his work. The text for this comes straight from the NIV. There are places I wish certain parts of passages had not been cut -- for example, the promised seed of the woman doesn't appear in the story about the fall, just the curse on the serpent -- but regardless, this is a delightful book of Bible stories.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures and simple telling. For the most part, I like his choices of stories to tell. I am still not sure what to think of the Abraham Issac story, when A. HAD in essence sacrificed Ishmael.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pictures were pretty good, I liked that it didn't cheapen the language, or dumb down the key theology, but I wasn't overly impressed. Nothing wrong with it, just not one of my favorites.

[Kaysie Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book of bible stories in true Tomie dePaola style.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply the best contemporary translation of the major bible stories.

[Desi A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Christmas gift several years ago from JP's godparents.

[Grandma M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compilation of 40 bible stories. Nice Tommie dePaola illustrations.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note for self--great illustrations, not my favorite for school purposes

[Skylar Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like: It uses (more or less) the actual text of the NIV Bible, retaining much of the Bible’s poetic beauty, and is thus a great way to introduce children to the real text of the Bible for the first time, as opposed to dumbed-down or sanitized children’s versions. Yet the illustrations that are familiar to readers of Tomie dePaola manage to keep a child more focused than reading aloud from an “adult” Bible would.

What I don’t like: While I understand than any collection of children’s Bible stories must be selective, I wonder about some of the specific gaps he chose to leave, and one in particular. I was reading to my daughter about Moses. First he is in the basket, then he is at the burning bush, and the next thing we know, the Israelites are crossing the Red Sea. When I turned the page and she saw the picture of the sea being parted, she flipped out. “No! What about the plagues? I want to read about the plagues!” I told her this version did not contain the plagues. “It’s not fair! I want to read about the plagues!” I ended up getting another children’s Bible.

I’m not bothered by the omission simply because it is a particularly favorite part of the story for my daughter, however. One has to make choices in an abridged collection. But to omit the Passover? Whether you are a Jew or a Christian, that’s a rather central chapter in the grand story. It seems to me that it would be rather like omitting the crucifixion from the New Testament (which, fortunately, the collection does not do).

So, I found myself returning to that “First Bible Stories” book I bought on the bargain shelf of Borders, which has fairly consistently remained my daughter’s favorite Bible and, despite its occasional jarring grammatical errors, mine as well.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking to keep a single compilation of illustrated bible stories for children or grandchildren, this is the one to get. I love that the stories are told primarily with NIV text. The familiar cadence of the short scriptural texts pairs beautifully with dePaola's distinctive style of illustration, and the combination is wonderfully approachable. I agree with other reviews that this version of these bible stories is most appropriate for children who are already mildly familiar with them, rather than as a first introduction. However, I like that they are concise! When a simple story is needed, this fits the bill- but these stories also provide an excellent jumping off point for more in-depth discussion, if that is desired.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a book of "first" Bible stories, and it won't serve as a good introduction to the Bible for those who are totally unfamiliar with it. Several of the stories dive right in without providing any context or background on the different groups of people, place names, or conflicts featured. This would be best for younger elementary students who have already been attending Sunday school for years, or kids who have someone on hand who can explain who the Philistines were, and why they were so mean to this Israeli dude named Samson.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that the text in this book was taken directly from the New International Version of the bible and parred with Tomie's beautiful illustrations. I thought it was interesting which stories Tomie chose to include in this book. But I thought he did a fairly good job of selecting and I enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I was drawn to this book to relive my 2nd grade glory days of Streganona. The illustrations were lovely but I think there could have been more creativity other than just copying and pasting from the NIV for the text.

[Ms. Sweeney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the pictures (as always) but don't care for the stilted language of the stories.

[Angel Roeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our favorite Bible story book. Love the pictures.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacob is reading this for his reading time during the Read-Aloud-Revival challenge..krb 5/9/16

Jake has put this on hold for a while, he got caught up in other books..krb 7/9/16