Redemption Tales by Marty Machowski

This early novel series is told in short story form. Each story is a standalone vignette, retelling Bible stories, but from the perspective of fictional animals. There are seven chapters, or stories, in each book. There are also sections in the back of each book with Scripture to read and questions to answers for each chapter.

Reading Level: Ages 6-10
Read Aloud Age: All Ages

The premise of this series is straightforward in its intent: reinforcing stories from Scripture while helping children see Scripture as one cohesive story. Machowski is a gifted storyteller, and while these are completely safe to hand to your children to read independently, they will likely work best as a read aloud where you can lean into the voices and really bring the characters to life. These are clearly didactic in nature, and frankly I think that didacticism has become more of a villain in literary circles than need be. Do stories with a clear message rub some readers the wrong way? Certainly, but they can also resonate with others. I appreciate how the animal stories are clearly separate from the Biblical accounts, which helps children to keep clear what is Scriptural and what is the fictional storyline.

These could prove useful for private or Sunday school teachers as well.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclaimer for more info.