The Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible by Joanna Rivard & Tim Penner

This is a story Bible that retells 33 of the most well known Bible stories. The tag line is: The incredible story of who God is, who you are, and who you were made to be.

This rather cartoon-esque illustrated story Bible does well in showing diversity and appropriate skin tones for the characters in the Bible. No one looks European in this book. The tone of this Bible storybook is rather lighthearted, sometimes to a fault. For example, in reference to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it reads, “‘You mustn’t eat the fruit from this tree,’ God told them. ‘It will hurt you.'” Being hurt and dying are markedly different.

There are other examples of this, like a sugarcoating of Jonah’s speech to Nineveh.

It does generally follow Scripture well and is often very straightforward.

“God told Moses to climb to the top of Mount Sinai. God was going to tell Moses how he wanted his people to live now that they were free. So Moses climbed to the very top of the mountain. And there, surrounded by a thick cloud, God spoke to him. His voice was loud like thunder.”

Some small phrases are theologically incorrect like, “As God was looking for a new king…” God doesn’t spend time looking for a new king, He has always known exactly who He would choose from before the foundations of the world.

Two very problematic issues with the text:

1. It does not mention the word “sin.” Although this is a retelling for younger children, completely omitting sin is a problem.
2. It refers to all people as “God’s children.” Scripture is clear that all people are made in the image of God, but only those who are in Christ are His children.

Other things to note:

When the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon, her speech has a much different tone than in Scripture. “I can see that God is great…and that he has given you incredible gifts. But remember…God wants you to be a fair and good king. It is your job to show God’s people the right way to live.”

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