The Rich Fool

by Janice Kramer, Sally Mathews (Illustrator)

Luke 12:16-21 for children. A parable of a man and his treasure.

Genres: Religion, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1964

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice lilt to the poetry (anapaestic, as seem to be most common in these sorts of versified Bible stories for children) and a nice layout, almost as prose on some pages as it fits round the fine illustrations, so as not to draw too much attention to itself.

Maybe this is 4.5 stars owing to a few stumbles in that nice poetry (plus one moment where we must suspend disbelief, given that a fall into a grain silo of that depth would be fatal, rather than occasion for a humorous further dig at his greed), but it really is a good re-telling, with sensitive elaboration and decoration (who built the rich man’s barns… obviously he didn’t do it himself) and a solid postscript addressed to the adult who reads it to the younger child.

The parable of the rich fool itself, is of course unimpeachable, and as relevant today as it was in the first century, given how many millions more rich fools there are around. And there is of course a plank to be dealt with around here once I have pointed the finger at any other rich fools, if only I could see it clearly…

[Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy-to-read story with timeless truths.