New Testament

Stories inside

Three example books from this collection. Every story is written fresh from your own prompt, so no two families end up with the same one.

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  Story 01

  Peace in the Storm

  The boat rocks, the wind howls, and Jesus speaks calm over the water.

  The disciples were working fishermen and they were still terrified. That detail is worth keeping, because it tells a child that being frightened is not the same as being foolish.

  Your child is in the boat for all of it. They feel it pitch, they see water coming over the side, and they are the one who goes to wake him. Their face is drawn from the photos you upload, so the child in the storm is unmistakably yours.

  Then it stops. The moment after is the one worth slowing down for: a glassy lake, a sail hanging still, and everyone sitting looking at each other. Parents of anxious children tend to come back to this theme.

  What it draws on

  The crossing at dusk, the squall, waking Jesus, and the water going still.

  Your child's part

  In the boat throughout, and the one who wakes him.

  Start their story

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  Story 02

  The Loaves and the Fishes

  A small lunch, willingly shared, becomes enough for everyone on the hillside.

  Five loaves, two fish, and a crowd of thousands. The arithmetic does not work, which is the whole point, and children spot the problem long before anyone explains it.

  The lunch belongs to your child. Carrying the basket through the crowd, handing it over, watching it go along the hillside and keep going.

  Twelve baskets left over, and a hillside of people who came for one thing and got another. Useful territory for talking about sharing without turning it into a lecture.

  What it draws on

  The hillside crowd, the small lunch offered up, the baskets going round, and twelve left over.

  Your child's part

  The one whose lunch it is, and who hands it over.

  Start their story

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  Story 03

  Zacchaeus in the Tree

  Too small to see over the crowd, and the one person Jesus stops for.

  Zacchaeus was rich, unpopular and short, and he climbed a tree because it was the only way to see over anyone's shoulder. Children find this very funny, and then they notice that he is lonely.

  Your child climbs up with him. They are out on the branch when Jesus stops underneath, says his name in front of the whole town, and invites himself to dinner.

  What follows is a change of heart, best told without moralising. Zacchaeus gives back what he took, and that is enough on its own without being explained.

  What it draws on

  The crowd he cannot see over, the sycamore tree, his name called out, and dinner at his house.

  Your child's part

  Up the tree beside him, and at the table afterwards.

  Start their story