Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Mix and Match Bible Stories

With books of Bible stories everywhere you turn, one might think all the possibilities have been exhausted. But Mix and Match Bible Stories by Sally Ann Wright and Toni Goffe offers something a little different. Fifteen stories--from Moses to Paul--are covered. Each story's "page" is broken into three panels on both the left and right sides for each part, hence the mix-and-match aspect. On the left, you put together the picture of the person whose story is being told, then when you've matched it up, their story is revealed on the opposite side for you to read.

If your kids like mix and match pictures and stories, they'll enjoy this book.

What I Like: The stories are pretty well encapsulated in just a few sentences, although in a few, I felt it misled the reader. For instance, for brevity, the story of Joseph is abbreviated at the end, saying: "I helped Egypt and my family through a seven-year famine." While this is true on the most basic of levels, it leaves out the fact they didn't even recognize him, or that the brothers had told their father, Jacob, that Joseph was dead. Also in this story, God's hand in the Joseph's situation is completely left out.

Toni Goffe's illustrations are engaging and very colorful.

What I Dislike: Most of the mix and match books I've seen in the past have the associated stories in the same order. And while the same order is used, each is skewed slightly so you have to hunt to find the second and third panels for Noah's story (or any other story.) They're not all on page 1; you might have the top panel be page 1, the second be page 6, and the third be page 12 to make a complete story.

Most Christians will be familiar with all fifteen stories shared, but it would have been nice to have references for where to find the stories in the Bible.

Overall Rating: Ho-hum.

Age Appeal: 3 - 5

Publisher Info: Concordia Publishing House, 2011; ISBN: 978-0-7586-2796-4; Hardback, 32 pages, $12.99

Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $9.99
OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $11.04.








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1 comment:

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