'The Story of All Stories' children's Bible vividly conveys salvation history

(OSV News) -- It's not your parents' children's Bible. Although -- teases its publisher, Word on Fire Votive -- if they buy it as a gift, they may try to keep it for themselves.

"The Story of All Stories: A Story Bible for Young Catholics" is the new children's Bible parents and grandparents are buying for little ones, but find themselves captivated by its combination of alluring art and engaging storytelling.

"It was something that a lot of Catholic parents had been asking me for when I came on as editor of the Votive imprint," said Haley Stewart, who oversees the youth books division of Bishop Robert E. Barron's Word on Fire evangelization organization, based in Elk Grove, Illinois.

"A lot of them were saying, 'We want a really beautiful children's Bible, because there's nothing on the market that's really captured our children's imagination.' And I have four kids, and I felt the same," recalled Stewart. "So we began a conversation within the team at Word on Fire, and started to get excited about what we could create. And we knew pretty much immediately that Emily was the person we wanted."

Emily is Emily Stimpson Chapman -- best-selling Catholic author of over a dozen books, journalist, essayist and mother of three. Stewart was eager to cast Chapman as her chief storyteller for the new project, which would read like a storybook.

Chapman, however, took some convincing; her children were 1, 2 and 4 at the time, and she had sworn off of any such huge, time-consuming undertakings.

After Chapman told Stewart "no" twice, Stewart resorted to a secret weapon: showing her the work of artist Diana Renzina, who would illustrate the Bible.

"As soon as I saw that, I knew I had to say yes -- because I knew I was going to want that Bible in my house for my children," said Chapman. "And if the writing was anything less than what I would have liked it to be, I was going to be kicking myself for the rest of my life. I said 'yes' as a mother."

Renzina -- a mostly self-taught, Latvian artist -- works in a style that fuses her favorite folkloric inspirations with enchanting and vivid drawings on practically every page of "The Story of All Stories," which was published in October.

"She has this way of blending fresh illustrations with ancient and mystical qualities in the way that she handles form, color and texture," said Nicolas Fredrickson, Word on Fire's brand director. "She conveys feelings of transcendence in these vibrant, exciting scenes. She consistently tells these deep mysterious stories through her work."

That cohesion -- in both art and story -- is critical in a hardcover volume that runs 496 pages and covers Biblical events from Genesis to Revelation. Each chapter features main points and key connections -- Biblical typology showing how Old Testament stories point to Jesus, Mary and the sacraments -- as well as quotes from saints, popes and Church Fathers.

"It tells children the story of the Bible as one whole," explained Chapman. "Most children's Bibles are collections of random stories from the Bible, and they help kids to know a lot of the highlights, but they don't help them to see the whole picture."

That whole picture is, of course, nothing less than salvation.

"Most children's Bibles, both Catholic and non-Catholic, don't help children see God's plan for salvation -- the love that is not only behind every moment in salvation history, but the love that is working through salvation history to bring us to him," Chapman said. "And when you see the whole plan -- when you see the aerial view and what God has been doing in the lives of the patriarchs and the prophets and the apostles -- you learn to see God's hand in your life, too."

Designed for ages 7-13, the narrative style and tone are accessible yet not oversimplified, and importantly, theologically accurate.

"We could not include every single story in the Bible, but we wanted it to have a fullness to it," Chapman said.

Ultimately, the division is almost evenly half and half between the Old Testament and New Testament. An audiobook version -- read by actor Jonathan Roumie who portrays Jesus in "The Chosen" -- is also available.

With more than 400 five-star reviews on Amazon, the family imprimatur seems solidly assured. But both prelates and priests have also endorsed "The Story of All Stories." Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, who recently preached Pope Leo XIV's Lenten retreat, said it was "like a portable cathedral."

"I hope it helps people to know and love Christ better, and want to follow him," Chapman said. "I hope it helps them to know that the God who spoke to Abraham and Isaac and Joseph speaks to them, too -- and that he loves them."