Daniel and the Roaring Lions - Arch Books

by Louise Ulmer, Louise Ulmer

For more than 25 years Arch( Books have captivated children ages 5-9. Each book presents a complete Bible story through colorful illustrations and fun-to-read rhymes. The Arch Book Series includes more than 100 titles covering key Bible stories and themes from Genesis through Acts.

1 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm kind of terrible as a reviewer of Bible stories for kids because there's so much that we oversimplify for them and then imbibe for ourselves as adults, but this isn't bad. The rhyme scheme, while a couple of times inconsistent, is very easy and familiar iambic pentameter rhyming couplets (this is one of the most natural rhythms for English speakers, so it feels fine to read aloud). The illustrations remind me of the style of "Opus" and "Bloom County." The retelling of Daniel in the lions' den is actually pretty faithful to the story itself without adding lots of flourishes to try and get kids' attention. There's also a short note at the end of the story about how to talk to your kids about the impact of this story in daily life, which I appreciate.

That said, I can hear my divinity school professors sighing in exasperation at the exclusive use of masculine pronouns for God as well as the fact that all the characters are peach-colored, i.e. white. That may be a further opportunity to talk to your kids if they're at the high end of the target age group and have started understanding those kinds of differences, though.