Parables of Jesus

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

  The Good Shepherd

  One lamb wanders off, and the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find it.

  Ninety-nine sheep are safe and one is not, and the shepherd goes anyway. It is a strange sum and it is meant to be.

  Your child goes with him, out past the last of the light, calling. The illustrations keep the hills big and the lamb small, so that finding it feels earned rather than given.

  Then the walk back with the lamb across his shoulders. Any child who has ever lost sight of a parent in a shop understands this story immediately.

  What it draws on

  Counting the flock, the one that is missing, the search after dark, and the way home.

  Your child's part

  Beside the shepherd for the whole search.

  Start their story

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  Story 02

  The Lost Coin

  A whole house turned upside down for one small thing, and the joy when it is found.

  A woman loses a single coin and turns her entire house over to find it, sweeping into every corner by lamplight while everyone else has gone to bed.

  Your child holds the lamp. They shift the furniture, they look underneath things, and they are there for the glint in the corner that ends the search.

  The best part is what she does next, which is throw a party that very likely cost more than the coin. Jesus told it that way deliberately, and it is worth keeping.

  What it draws on

  The missing coin, the lamplit search, the moment it turns up, and the celebration after.

  Your child's part

  Lamp-holder, and the one who spots it.

  Start their story

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  Story 03

  The Good Samaritan

  Two people walk past. The third one stops, and everything changes.

  Two respectable people cross the road to avoid a man who needs help. The third is a foreigner the original audience disliked, and he is the one who stops.

  Your child stops too. They fetch the water, they help get him onto the donkey, and they walk the long way to the inn beside him.

  The injury is drawn plainly and never gruesomely. The part worth lingering on is the kneeling down, because that is what costs something.

  What it draws on

  The road to Jericho, two who pass by, the Samaritan who stops, and the night at the inn.

  Your child's part

  Bringing water, and walking with him to the inn.

  Start their story