Article November 21, 2011 Issue

A storybook Bible for all

Kim Shippey

It would be hard to imagine a better book for National Bible Week and the Christmas season than Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Storybook Bible: Children of God (Deluxe Edition), Zonderkidz, 2011. It costs less than $25, and includes two audio CDs of Tutu reading each Bible story aloud, enhanced by music and sound effects. Several well-established artists from around the world were selected to illustrate the 56 stories spanning Genesis to Revelation—they come from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Russia, France, Vietnam, Argentina, the Netherlands, Italy, and China.

Sample audio clips in which Tutu retells two of his favorite stories are available at http://childrenofgodbible.com/. Tutu’s narration is marked by his strong South African accent, but he speaks slowly and expressively, and is easy to follow. When he smacks his lips to bring the creation story to a close, you are swept up in his unbounded enthusiasm: “God looked at everything that he had made and clapped his hands together in delight. ‘Isn’t it wonderful!’ ” (Gen. 1:31). And in an excerpt from the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation, he really takes off: “ ‘You are all brothers and sisters together, my family. Come and drink, my beloved children, from the water that gives you life, love, and joy!’ ”

Tutu’s credentials for this job are impeccable—man of the cloth (Anglican), Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and father of four children and seven grandchildren. In his introduction he explains that this truly is an international Bible “created by people in many, many lands for children all around the world . . . .”

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