Baby's Little "Bible"

Kregel Publiations sent me Baby's Little Bible by Sarah Toulmin to read and review.

It is a small (perfect size for little hands), hardcover book that comes in white, pink, or blue.  Kristina Stephenson is the illustrator; the illustrations are very well done - bright & beautiful.  They definitely catch your eye and will keep little readers engaged.

I like the book's table of contents.  It divides the stories into Old Testament and New Testament, with 9 and 11 stories, respectively.  Author Ms. Toulmin has chosen to include some of the most popular (not the most important) stories such as Rainy Days (Noah's story), The Giant and the Boy (David and Goliath), Bread and Fish (Jesus feeds the 5,000), and The Cross.  It does not have the bible references next to each story so that the reader would know where to look in order to read the real version.

Kregal sent me a pink copy, and I immediately thought, "Oh, neat!  I'll give this to my new niece, Sophie."  But then I started reading it.  There are way too many theological errors in this book; it does not at all follow God's Word.  I would never give it as a gift or be able to recommend it in good conscience. There are simply too many errors - serious ones that will lead children away from God, not to Him.

1. The fall is missing.  Without the fall, how can children learn from this "bible" to trust in a perfect and holy Savior when they are not even made aware of their need for Him?  The fall is essential to a person's understanding of the gospel - a bible cannot be without it.  If there was no fall, Jesus wouldn't have had to shed His perfect blood.

2. In her New Testament stories, there is no anticipation of Jesus' death when, in fact, He told of it many times (to list a few: Luke 9:21-22, 44-45; 22:19-21; Matthew 26:26-29; Matthew 20:17-19).  But Ms. Toulmin still writes in The Cross (page 152), "Goodbye, Jesus," they said. "It's all over now."  In the book's next and last story, Alive, Jesus is alive and tells the people, "God can put everything right.  Go and tell everyone in the world," (p. 156).  That's the end (except for a short blessing on the last page).  What's wrong with this?  Put what "right"?  If readers don't know about the fall or their sinful nature that separates them eternally from God apart from Jesus Christ, why would they need a Mediator?  Unfortunately, there is no encouragement to trust Christ as your Savior by repenting of your sins and living by faith.  According to Ms. Toulmin, children are just to go and tell everyone that God can fix our world when they will not know (according to this book) what is truly wrong with it.

 I'll just show one other example of a theological error: Toulmin writes, "God made woman.  'Your name is Eve,' he said," (p. 13).  God's Word says in Genesis 3:20, "The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."  Adam named Eve, not God.  And Adam named her after the fall.

I'm disappointed in Kregel for publishing this book - why didn't their editors catch these obvious errors?  I am just a pastor's wife who hasn't been trained at a seminary, but anyone who studies God's Word knows that this little book is missing the key doctrine that differentiates Jesus as a Savior from Jesus as just another good person in our world.  Rest assured - this book will not be going to sweet little Sophie nor anyone I love.  Kregel, I hope you fix your error and stop its publication.