I don’t think I’ve ever seen brown angels in a children’s Bible before. That alone sold me on the book. I think we’ve come to an understand in Christian art that Jesus and the other people in the Bible weren’t white, yet when angels (who often take human form when addressing humans) are represented, that whiteness remains. That almost makes things worse, as the perception is then that white-skinned humans are angelic messengers contrasted with the dark-skinned humans. 

 

Anyway, this review doesn’t need to be all about skin color, but doesn’t it make sense that if angels were taking human form they would look like the humans they were going to be giving messages to? So why is this the first book I’ve ever seen do that? What I’m saying is: representation matters and Joanna Rivard and Tim Penner get it. (Note to the publisher: Even before writing this review, just by pointing this fact out to friends, I had people buying the book. So, you’re welcome.) 

 

The Tiny Truths Bible for Little Ones follows up the Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible and Tiny Truths Wonder and Wisdom: Psalms and Proverbs. Different important Bible stories get told through 2 or 4 panel illustrations. This volume covers the following: 

 

·       Creation 

·       Noah 

·       Abraham and Sarah 

·       The Exodus 

·       David and Goliath 

·       Daniel 

·       Jonah 

·       The First Christmas 

·       Jesus 

·       Jesus and Children 

·       Jesus’ Last Days 

·       Jesus’ Resurrection 

 

Some other things that I appreciated about this volume was that it managed to talk about the crucifixion of Jesus in a way that is appropriate for young children. As a pastor with young kids, a lot of children’s books are more graphic than I want to show my kids and more centralized on penal substitutionary atonement (whether that’s intentional or just a byproduct of the author’s theology). Rivard and Penner handle it with an illustration of three crosses on a hill and the words “Jesus had done nothing wrong. But they punished him. And Jesus died.” This allows parents to decide how detailed they want to be and how firmly they want to push penal substitution as an atonement theory. 

 

If I wanted to be super nitpicky, one criticism I might have is that the text says that three wise men visited Jesus. Three is tradition, but that’s never affirmed in Scripture. I would have preferred just “wise men” but it’s not something I’m concerned about. 

 

Short sentences and vibrant illustrations make this a book that is truly geared for toddlers to young readers. As a board book, it’s sturdy—which you need if you have kids who get excited and tear paper pages. Every element of The Tiny Truths Bible for Little Ones is thought out well and executed to perfection. It’s my new favorite book for my kids.