Walking the Bible (children's edition): An Illustrated Journey for Kids Through the Greatest Stories Ever Told

by Bruce Feiler, Sasha Meret (Illustrator)

Specially crafted for a young audience, this stunning children's edition of the New York Times bestseller is illustrated with black-and-white maps and Feiler's own photographs.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

Published September 21, 2004

About the author

BRUCE FEILER is one of America’s most popular voices on contemporary life. He is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers; the presenter of two prime-time series on PBS; and the inspiration for the drama COUNCIL OF DADS on NBC. Bruce’s two TED Talks have been viewed more than two million times. Employing a firsthand approach to his work, Bruce is known for living the experiences he writes about. His work combines timeless wisdom with timely knowledge turned into practical, positive messages that allow people to live with more meaning, passion, and joy. His new book, LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS: Mastering Change at Any Age, describes his journey across America, collecting hundreds of life stories, exploring how we can navigate the growing number of life transitions with greater purpose and skill.

For more than a decade, Bruce has explored the intersection of families, relationships, health, and happiness. His book THE SECRETS OF HAPPY FAMILIES collects best practices from some of the country’s most creative minds. The book was featured on World News, GMA, and TODAY and excerpted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Parade. THE COUNCIL OF DADS describes how, faced with one of life’s greatest challenges, he asked six friends to support his young daughters. The book was profiled in PEOPLE, USA Today, and Time and was the subject of a CNN documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Since 2001, Bruce has been one of the country’s preeminent thinkers about the role of spirituality in contemporary life. WALKING THE BIBLE describes his 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. (“An instant classic,” Washington Post). The book spent a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into fifteen languages.

ABRAHAM recounts his search for the shared ancestor of the monotheistic religions. (“Exquisitely written,” Boston Globe). WHERE GOD WAS BORN describes his trek visiting biblical sites throughout Israel, Iraq, and Iran. (“Bruce Feiler is a real-life Indiana Jones,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution). AMERICA’S PROPHET is the groundbreaking story of the influence of Moses on American history. THE FIRST LOVE STORY is a journey across four continents exploring how Adam and Eve shaped our deepest feelings about relationships. (“A miraculous thing—the literary equivalent of breathing new life into a figure of clay,” New York Times Book Review; “Feiler’s best work yet,” Publishers Weekly).

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce lives in Brooklyn with wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their identical twin daughters.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for kids, but anyone can get something out of this read. This book made Biblical geography come alive with its pictures and descriptions of places we’ve read about, but from a modern trek through this part of the world. I will definitely be having my kids read this one.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is only slightly acquainted with the author's work as a whole, but someone who has traveled to at least some of the lands of the Bible [1], I found the photography of this book far more of interest than the author's text.  This is, perhaps, to be expected.  Fortunately, the photography for this book is excellent, which covers a lot of sins, including the fact that the author has a bit too much of the higher critic about him.  Even so, if you are looking to read this book to get a photographic sense of some of the more important sites of the Bible, and are willing to overlook the author's attempts at biblical textual criticism, there is much to enjoy here.  Those readers who are offended by the viewpoint of the author would be advised to treat this book like a photography book and pay little or no attention to the text supporting it.  It is my philosophy, when dealing with a book like this one, that a book should be enjoyed as best as possible, and sometimes one can enjoy a book heartily and sometimes slightly and sometimes, sadly, not at all.  This book can be enjoyed at least partially.

The photos and text in this book take up about 160 pages or so and are divided into seven chapters, a fitting biblical number.  After a short introduction, the author looks at pictures of the supposed Garden of Eden in Southern Iraq as well as the area of Ararat.  After that the author looks at the time of the Patriarchs through photos of Harran, various sites in the promised land, as well as the southern area of the Dead Sea where Sodom and Gomorrah are often assumed to be.  After that the author has a chapter on Egypt dealing with Joseph, another chapter on the Exodus that involves photos of parts of Egypt, and a chapter on the time spent in the Wilderness and another on the Ten Commandments that include pictures of the Sinai peninsula.  The last chapter of the book looks at the area of Jordan where the time in the wilderness ended and where Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, after which there is a short conclusion and acknowledgements section.  The result is a book with amazing photographs and text that is occasionally good, and since most people are looking for a photographic journey, it is one that is likely to be enjoyed.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for great photographs of biblical scenes.  Some of the sites in this book have suffered as a result of the fighting in the Middle East over the past few years, so it is unlikely, for example, that Harran will be able to be viewed in the same way ever again barring a massive and expensive reconstruction effort.  The text of this book receives a much more tepid and limited recommendation with the caveat that I disagree fundamentally with the author's approach to the Bible.  This is the second book by the author I have read in a row, and in both cases the author's conception of the Bible was far too limited in scope.  As the author's books that I have read so far on the Bible deal so strongly with geography, this book does not include large areas of what would be considered parts of biblical geography--Persia/Iran, more of Turkey, Greece, Malta, and Italy.  This is a book that provides photography of some of the more notable sites mentioned in the Torah.  Those readers who do not mind the book's narrow scope will at least find pretty photographs to look at, and there are far worse ways that one can spend one's time than being inspired to think of the Bible based on how sites now look.  Reading the text is optional.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

[Kristin King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tying the great stories of the Bible to the land, sights and smells of the places where they occurred is a great endeavor. Bruce Feiler admits that although exact locations are frequently unknown, he did his best to get as close to them as possible, read the stories in Hebrew and see how being there brought greater depth and texture to the scripture. Our family listened to the audiobook, so we missed the illustrated part. Still it was an insightful read that gave us new perspectives on ancient wisdom. While I did not agree with all the approaches, Feiler did an outstanding job of making his work focus on what unites those interested in this powerful book rather than what divides. The work left me feeling something was wanting, and perhaps that is because this was the children's version and overly edited. I'm not sure. That was the primary reason I gave it 3 rather than 4 stars.

[James Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderful. Easy to understand. I was reading the wordy adult version to my eighty year old mother. She was having trouble taking it in. When I changed to this version with pictures and less complicated words she was understanding it better. The DVDs is great too-covering the same information with neat explanations of the author's personal experience with this material. One of the best explanations of exodus was given in a talk by Walter Bruggeman. The talk gave a beautiful vision of why the stories of the Bible are so important and how they relate to us today.
I have found that when I want a simple view of a new area of interest children's books are a wonderful introduction. Say trees, all religions-explaining how they differ and how they are similar. I recommend this book for kids and adults.

[Margaret Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reread this book as part of preparation for a book group discussion on the adult version of this book. (See other review) My confirmation students read several chapters out loud in class. They were intrigued by the link between geography, history and science. The book follows the adult version pretty closely (so if you are coming to the book group discussion and need a cliff notes version this works). The pictures, while black and white would be good to use with adults or kids. It reads like an adventure book and makes the Bible much more accessible. Some of the language feels a little dated in 2018 in ways that it didn't feel when I first read it.

[Unabridged_Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting point-of-view of visiting sites believed to be the locations of key Biblical events. Many were theories only and should be taken that way. There were a few things I chose to edit out as we read as they didn't quite fit with our theological views, but overall it was a fun Bible time book for us. A diversion from the usual at the very least.
One tip: Have a map on-hand as they include small area maps and pictures but no larger regional map to help kids fit it into the bigger geographical picture.

[Joellenparker]

historical and geographical guide to middle east

[Cathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely done. Includes line drawings, photos, and Bible quotes.
103 pp