Our Thoughts

This is the first book in a series the publisher describes as being aimed at “retelling Bible narratives from the perspective of the animals who could have witnessed the events firsthand”. For those of you who checked out the “The Amazing Tales of Max & Liz” series by Jenny L. Cote that we previously reviewed, you will have a bit of a jump on picturing what this series is like (but Redemption Tale books are both shorter and cover a larger part of the biblical narrative in each title, both have great and different aspects to them and very much worth reading). Like that series, this is a really neat option for kids to explore the scripture in a way that really gets their imagination going. It starts with an excellent introduction, laying out an overview of the series, focusing on God’s work in creation. The book then opens with Psalm 148:7-10 and includes a scriptural reference at the end of each chapter that follows. We soon jump to “the Fall” and this book does such a great job of sharing some of the incredibly vast impacts that event had on God’s good creation. In fact, readers continue on through things like the Tower of Babel and the Exodus. Along the way we see wisdom sprinkled in, e.g., “Complaining closes your eyes to the blessings around you”. Overall it is very neat how the story is woven together in pieces through the animals in various ways. By taking a bit of a longer view of creation, the fall and events that follow, the author is able to really show more of the arc of the biblical storyline. This is enhanced by the beautiful intentionality of the book to point the reader back again and again to God’s plan of eventual redemption through Christ (hence, Redemption Tales). Finally, we will end by saying this is a great candidate to read together or even as a potential addition to a homeschool Bible curriculum. It will bring up so many teaching moments that point to the heart of God. It also reinforces the learning with a set of questions at the end. This is one we HIGHLY Recommend.