All at sea

All at sea

I went to see the Noah film last week, and I have to admit it was with high hopes. Despite the fact that I’d heard the story went a bit off-piste, despite the fact that the last thing I’d seen Russell Crowe in was his curiously wooden performance in Les Mis and despite the fact that recent cinema trips had been disappointing (I’m looking at you, Muppets). While at SU, I had republished a book by Andrew Guyatt called The Oncoming Storm, which retold the Noah story for a young adult audience. I found his description of what the world might have been like for Noah really interesting – how did one family build the ark, what did Noah’s wife think of it all, how bad had humanity become for God to contemplate wiping nearly everyone out? I was really intrigued to see how the film answered some of these questions.

However, my hopes were mostly misplaced. I did enjoy it more than Muppets Most Wanted (though that’s not saying much), but it was still quite disappointing. I couldn’t decide whether I didn’t much enjoy it because it didn’t follow the Bible story, because it didn’t meet expectations raised by The Oncoming Storm or because it just wasn’t very good.

Noah, as portrayed by Crowe, was impenetrable, obsessive and almost entirely without sympathy (him for others, or the audience for him). His family were one dimensional and underwritten. God was distant and mostly silent. The Cainites were woefully underused. But most of all (and it may seem strange to say this in a story where thousands of people are wiped out), there is very little love. At the start of Genesis 6, God’s pain and sorrow is evident. Humans, whom he made in his own image, have turned their back on him. Noah loves God and God loves him, and the pain and desperation Noah goes through is because of this love.

For an interesting and thought-provoking retelling of Noah, read The Oncoming Storm instead.

Children’s story Bibles and why we give our children such rubbish

Children’s story Bibles and why we give our children such rubbish

I recently wrote an article for Childrenswork Magazine which required me to read children’s story Bibles for review. And I mean lots of children’s story Bibles. My desk was groaning under the weight of so many hardback books emblazoned with happy pictures of Noah and lots of animals. There were some amazing ones (my favourite was The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm and the wonderfully named Gail Schoonmaker), but there was quite a lot of rubbish. And this got me thinking – why do we give our children such rubbish sometimes?

I used to think this a lot when I was working in Christian children’s publishing. There seemed to be so many terrible books and resources on the market which did so well, either because they were cheap or appealed to an adult’s idea of what children might like/be interested in (which was often quite far away from what children actually like or are interested in). Sometimes I used to wonder why people weren’t a bit more discerning, why they didn’t take the time to find the best.

Sadly, I fear that this lack of discernment might be down partly to lack of money and time. If these Bibles are being bought for a church group, the children’s budget will be small and the purchaser may not have a lot of time to devote to the job. There may also be the attitude that ‘it’s only the children, so don’t waste too much time on it’. Or the buyer just doesn’t know what children are interested in.

But devote a bit more effort to the choice and you’ll find a book which will help children grow in their relationship with God and help them develop a love for reading God’s story. Read parts of the different Bibles and see which one would suit you and your context the best. Try to find out how and why the author made their selection of stories. Look at the illustrations, show them to some children and see if they connect.

Don’t be satisfied with ‘OK’ when you buy stuff for children. Give them the best.