"The King and the Dragon" (James W. Shrimpton)

TITLE: The King and the Dragon
AUTHOR: James W. Shrimpton
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022, (32 pages).
 

How do we tell the story of the Bible to children? How can we explain the great truths of the Bible that they can easily understand? In this delightful and colorful book about a good king and an evil dragon, author James Shrimpton writes a compelling story that should captivate the hearts and minds of little children. Right from the start, adult readers will be able to grasp quickly the story of creation, the Eden temptation, the downfall of Adam and Eve, the repeated attempts by God to send help, and finally, the person of Jesus Christ. With pictures that illuminate the flow of the story, children will be able to understand the simple plot between good and evil, and more importantly, God and everything else. Helena Perez Garcia illustrates the story well with lots of images that depict not just the storyline, but some glimpses of biblical images. We see the fruit of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. We see the dark clouds of temptation. We see how the evil dragon uses trickery and deception to trip the world into sin. The debilitating conditions of the dry trees and dull-colored pages show the world in despair. The candlelight shows a small glimmer of hope in Jesus. Finally, the brave knight manages to slay the dragon, just like in the Medieval stories of old. This slaying is essentially about the resurrection of Christ that declares the victory of God over death, evil, and sin.

The strength of this book lies very much in the simplicity of the story and the captivating colours of illustration. In fact, the colours themselves tell the story of the contrast with and without God. In fact, just by looking at the pictures, one could allow children to interact by asking questions. This book might be brief but the opportunities for discussion are endless. The words are there to guide the general flow of the story, but the pictures illuminate the message in greater depth. This is a good book to help introduce young readers to the story of the Bible. Even though the messages have been abridged, they should be seen more as an introductory text to stir up interest in the Bible.

Kudos to the author and illustrator for helping reach children with a simple message of the Bible and the gospel message. I warmly recommend this book for Sunday School, parents of young children, and anyone trying to teach the Bible to kids.

James W. Shrimpton (MSc, University of Dundee) is a chartered accountant and hymn writer. He lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, with his wife and children, where they are members of Trinity Church Aberdeen.

Helena Perez Garcia is a London-based illustrator who specializes in portraits, editorial illustration, and book illustration. Her work is inspired by art, literature, and films, and has been featured by publishing houses, publications, and newspapers, such as Penguin Random House and BuzzFeed.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.