My Big Story Bible by Tom Wright 

'Wright is retelling the stories in an accessible way in something closer to the whole Bible, with his inclusions of the books of the prophets and the New Testament letters'

My Big Story Bible - 140 Faithful Stories, from Genesis to Revelation
By Tom Wright
SPCK
ISBN: 9780281085613
Reviewed by Andy Goodliff and Ed Jones

Andy writes:

Tom Wright is well known as a biblical scholar and biblical communicator. He has written numerous books for academic and non-academic audiences seeking to communicate his passionate understanding of the gospel. Whilst writing his For Everyone New Testament commentary series, he ended up translating the whole New Testament, published as the New Testament for Everyone.

In this new book he has written a version of the Bible for children. It comes with illustrations by Helena Perez Garcia. Bibles for children have been well-served in recent years, with the StoryBook Bible, the Beginners Bible, the Barnabas Children's Bible and many others. So what does Tom Wright offer?

140 stories from Old and New Testament, including Psalms (and not just the 23rd). He seeks to tell the whole story of Israel, including some of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Zechariah and Malachi. In this Wright wants to show how the prophets were part of the story and how the Old Testament looks forward. 

In the New Testament it doesn't stop at the end of Acts, but Wright interweaves some of Paul's letters in the narrative and has pages on Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation. The final 'story' is a version of John chapter 1. 

This is a Bible with some eschatology, that is in both Old and New: Wright wants to give a vision of hope (see his Surprised by Hope).

Other things to note are little cross-references, where certain stories are linked to other ones and a set of maps at the end.

The title 'My Big Story Bible' perhaps reveals unintentionally that this is Tom Wright's salvation historical rendering of the Bible. He is retelling the stories in an accessible way to the way he has told the biblical story in his other more adult-level books. I'm not sure I like the 'My' as it lends itself to that individualistic view of 'my Bible says', but this might have been the publisher's choice. Interestingly the US edition of the book is called the more appropriately ‘God’s Big Story Bible.’

I would recommend it: where The StoryBook Bible relates every story to Jesus, Wright does allow the Old Testament story to stand on its own, although it is forward looking. I would recommend it also because Wright offers children (and perhaps some of us adults), something closer to the whole Bible, with his inclusions of the books of the prophets and the New Testament letters. It has the possibility to be used at home and with children's groups.
 

Andy Goodliff is the minister of Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend. He is a lecturer in Baptist History at Regent's Park College, Oxford

'The breadth of the stories covered is really encouraging - paints a fuller picture of the Bible'

Ed writes:

Psalms 78:4 reads:
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD,
about his power and his mighty wonders.


The My Big Story Bible, seeks to do just that. The breadth of the stories covered is really encouraging. I think too often children's Bibles can focus on certain stories rather than painting a fuller picture. With Tom Wright's experience and years of studying the Bible and seeking to help others understand it, there is a real depth to the way the stories are told.

Every story has a ‘Where’s this in the Bible?’, which I really like. This is a particularly great feature for children, as they are still learning their way around the Bible and where the different stories come from.

There is also a ‘What else in God’s big story links up with this?’ for most, although not all of the stories. This is where Wright draws connections that really help develop the understanding of and tell the bigger story that is the Bible. An example being when Jesus is baptised and the journey of the Israelites through the Red Sea.

What really elevates the book are the illustrations by Helena Perez Garcia. It powerfully communicates something from the accompanying story in visual form.

What I really like is the way the illustrations aren’t what is expected. The last supper is a bird's eye view of what it might have looked like for Jesus to sit round the table with his disciples.

It's a book I’m sure would be loved by children, particularly those wanting something a step towards the full text, but can’t quite cope reading a text only NIV for example. That said, I also think the illustrations alone would help draw even younger children in, as the stories are read to them by an adult or older child.

A built in cord bookmark would be nice, but apart from that, with 140 stories, I’d highly recommend it and plan to make use of it myself as a great resource wanting to shares God truth with young through old.
 

Ed Jones is Team Leader and Pastor at Battle Baptist Church, East Sussex. He's the former director of Arise Ministries, a children's ministry