The Boy Who Ran Away

by Irene Elmer

Book by Irene Elmer

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one doesn't hold up well. The art is so so. Why the prodigal is made a redhead is... interesting. The art for the family has them lighter skinned while the servants are darker.

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was very awkwardly written… and it didn’t rhyme like the other Arch Books bible stories. It was published in the 60s, and the illustrations definitely represent.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this story with my 3rd grader, as part of a series on grace and forgiveness. We did the Old Testament story of Jonah ("The Man Caught By A Fish") and Jesus' parable of the lost sheep ("Jon and the Little Lost Lamb.") This book, "The Boy Who Ran Away," is another of Jesus' parables explaining how much He loves the people separated from Him.

The kids like these Arch books.

I like that this book tells the full story and doesn't end with the prodigal, the younger son's return home. Instead, it continues the story with the contrast between the older brother's ungracious resentment and the father's forgiving love. The Father represents our Heavenly Father, and the older brother represented those who were self-righteous and felt they had never wandered. The first point of Jesus' parable is that our Heavenly Father welcomes His children home even when the older brothers of society don't. The second point is that the older brother wasn't really as close in heart to the father as he thought, or else he would've welcomed his brother home.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this retelling of the prodigal son when I was a wee small girl for many years, when I was still dumb enough to believe in God. I cannot remember if I was given this book by my parents or if I won it at my local church for memorizing a tricky set of Bible verses. The artwork is very good -- at times very disturbing, but always vivid. Even when reading other references to the prodigal son I can't help but remember the hot-tempered redhead who fought with pigs for their swill.

NOTE: This is not to be confused with a book set in Thailand by Margaret Dickson also called The Boy Who Ran Away.