Book Review: The Rhyme Bible Storybook

The Rhyme Bible Storybook. L.J. Sattgast. Illustrated by Laurence Cleyet-Merle. 1996/2012. Zonderkidz. (Zondervan) 344 pages. [Source: Borrowed]

First "sentence": The world was once/ As dark as night,/ But then God said/ "Let there be light!/ The light appeared;/ It shone so bright!/ And so began/ The day and night. This children's bible story book contains twenty-five stories: seventeen from the Old Testament, eighteen from the New Testament. There are seven stories originating from Genesis. Two stories are about Moses. Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Jonah, Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah all get one story apiece. The New Testament stories come from the four gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Readers learn about Jesus from his miraculous birth to his ascension into heaven. Each story is told completely in rhyme. (That is one of the reasons this bible is so unique.) While it might be a stretch to say that every single poem is creatively unique and thoroughly engaging, it would be more than fair to say that the author does a good job with narrative voice. Some stories--or poems--I really, really love. Some I merely liked. "Jonah Goes To Ninevah" God said to Jonah, "I have a little task. Get up and go to Ninevah And do what I ask. The people are wicked, So tell them to obey." But Jonah got on board a ship And sailed the other way~ (Uh-oh, Jonah, You better go to Ninevah!) p. 136-137 The stories vary in length between eight to twelve pages. The book has a generous proportion of illustrations providing a nice balance between text and illustration. I really enjoyed reading this one.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible