5-Minute Bible - A Review

5-Minute Bible

100 Stories and 100 Song

By

Stephen Elkins

A Review

A children’s Bible story book that is nicely conceived, but poorly executed. Stephen Elkins is known for producing colorful and entertaining books for children - he has attempted to add a bit of his creative genius to his newest work.

Each of the 100 two page stories consists of four parts. The first three parts are attractive and well-done. The colorful artwork will hold the reader’s attention and be inviting for parents to share with their children. The Bible stories themselves are written to be understood by the preschool child and read by the first and second grader. The colorful artwork will draw the child's (and parent?) attention to the story. Accompanying each story is a brief 10-20 word lesson summary of what the child might remember from the story. Also accompanying each story is a short children’s song.

And that is where this reviewer finds fault with the book. Some of the songs are well-known, such “The B-I-B-L-E, Yes That’s The Book For Me.” Others are lyrics are set to familiar hymns - except that, for this non-musician, it was often difficult to force the provided lyrics to fit the suggested tune. Finally, there are unfamiliar songs for which there is no suggested tune - suggesting that the songs should be familiar, even though they are not. All of these concerns could be address by including a CD (or 2) with the music for parents and children to sing along with. Similarly, a set of MP3 files could be made available on the book’s web page.

Which leads to this reviewer’s final concern - the web page given in the book’s introduction leads to a page saying that some page (not the book’s page) is under development. Yes, this new page is under development, but there is no indication that it is related to this book and, in fact, has no content at all. According to the book introduction, the page will present the full lyrics (alas, no music) for all the songs in the book; but not even the lyrics are present. (Note this review is being written one week after the publication date, and these problems could be addressed in the near future).

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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

The Carols of Christmas - A Review

The Carols of Christmas:
A Celebration of the Surprising Stories
Behind Your Favorite Holiday Songs

by

Andrew Gant

A Review

A well-done study of 21 of the carols that help us remember many of the themes that surround the Christmas holiday. Rather than taking a devotional perspective (like those done by Robert Morgan), the author has chosen to apply an academic approach as he introduces us to the hymns.  

The “Introduction” serves to help us understand the role Christmas carols play in Western society - including a look at their historical, theological, and denominational backgrounds. The introduction is a broad picture of what will come later as the author looks at the individual hymns.

The bulk of the book takes the reader through a group of 21 hymns in Biblical order - beginning with a hymn appropriate for use during all of Advent, moving through the days leading up to Christmas proper, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the angels, the shepherds, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and Epiphany.  The final hymn is “Jingle Bells.”  As can be seen the author includes both examples of secular songs and those with a more spiritual tone (e.g. “Away in A Manger,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”)  The roots of the words (Biblical or not) and the music are explored.  Some of the stories associated with the music or words are full of as much mystery as a good Sherlock Holmes tale - with the true nature of their origins hidden till some unexpected source brought them to light. Though the focus is certainly academic, there are hints of devotional thoughts.  For example, as he concludes his look at “While Shepherds Watched”, the author notes that “... the full richness and variety of its history will, like the shepherds, have to wait.”  

Over the fifteen years I have served in the pulpit, I have occasionally taken my congregation through the history and setting of the church’s hymns. As I read Gant’s look at the Christmas carols, I am considering doing a similar series for the carols of Christmas. I expect it might be fun to look at the stories behind the carols as we have done with hymns in the past.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.