Dear Anti-Racist Parent:
Do you have suggestions for children’s Bibles (or Christian-themed books) that have realistic and non-racist portrayals of Biblical characters and children represented in them? Any thoughts on the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Heidi C.
From the Editor:
I am really out of my element on this question, but I imagine some of ARP’s readers can help. Every illustrated Bible I have seen has included images that remake Biblical characters in the image of the primary reader.
We’ve all seen the Eurocentric illustrations featuring silky blond and blue-eyed Jesus. I have long thought that this generally-accepted remaking of historical Jesus has played a central role in establishing Euro-supremacy in our culture. In response, many black churches have Bibles in the pew where everyone pictured is African in ancestry. Do Christian worshippers of other races do this too? I haven’t come across many Bibles, but I have yet to see one that makes an effort in historical, racial accuracy in its illustrations.
To try to answer your questions, I tried Googling..tried pouring through some of the illustrated Christian books on Amazon and other sites…I got nothing. Readers, does anyone have suggestions for Heidi?
Tami
Editor
Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for this, but the question prompted me to run upstairs and check my own childhood bibles (one of which is the classic “The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes”) which were some of my favorite books as I was growing up. I was relieved to find that at least Jesus wasn’t blonde in them, but that’s about the best that can be said for the racial portrayals. We are adopting very soon and I will be eager to see other responses and suggestions!
Children of Color Storybook Bible
Thomas Nelson Publishers – Nashville
My copy is 10 years old and I love it! It is OT & NT Bible stories, beautifully illustrated and biblically correct. This is the Bible both my daughters started with and then graduated to non-illustrated. Please let me know if you can filnd it & how it works out for you.
I wish I could help, but the only ones I’ve seen that don’t have all white people have all black people, and it’s just as inaccurate to have Abraham looking like he’s from sub-Saharan Africa as it is to have Jesus looking like he’s Norwegian. The evangelical publishing houses have become much more aware of this sort of thing in the last decade or so, so there may well be something now, but I haven’t seen it.
Also, it isn’t clear to me whether the question is about picture Bibles (which are picture books based on the Bible) or Bibles that have the whole biblical text with some pictures. Those are very different things.
We own this book and I am very pleased with the ethnicities portrayed. http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Little-Blessings-Kathleen-Bostrom/dp/0842351442/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220310901&sr=8-1
Little Blessings also makes a Bible http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Little-Hearts-Blessings/dp/1859851886/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220311073&sr=8-7 but since I’ve never seen it, I don’t know whether it is multicultural.
We also own this young child’s Bible: http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Little-Hearts-Blessings/dp/1859851886/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220311073&sr=8-7 The primary characters (Adam & Eve, Noah, Jesus) are depicted as white, many of the side characters (people in the crowd, apostles) are very dark. Not what you want maybe, but better than nothing!
The Jesus Storybook Bible is awesome. All of the illustrations show ethnically accurate people. And the theology is really great. The stories very readable, and my kids love it.
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Storybook-Bible-Every-Whispers/dp/0310708257/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220317476&sr=8-1
Check out:
http://www.amazon.com/Praise-Bible-Enjoying-Goodness-Greatness/dp/1578560373/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220323977&sr=8-2
Sorry, the above bible shouldn’t be Little Blessings, it should be Lift the Flap: http://www.amazon.com/Lift-Flap-Bible-Book/dp/1575844036/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220324711&sr=1-1
I have a book, “the life and teachings of Jesus”, that is a retelling of the story of the gospels. Jesus, the disciples, and everyone else are represented as being Asian. I don’t think it’s been translated into English though; it’s written in Chinese.
Hello, I’m the illustrator of the Jesus Storybook Bible. When we were discussing the look of the people in this book, the publishers were very clear that I was to avoid Caucasian-looking people (something I was particularly pleased about).
If you’d like to see some illustrations from the book have a look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jago/sets/72157604217110131/
or visit my website and got to the portfolio page:
http://www.jagoillustration.com
Jago
Thank you everyone for sharing your resources. The religious books I’ve bought so far are board books with minimal text, so I’ll file these away for future reference.
Way before I was a parent, I was browsing a Christian bookstore with a born-again Catholic, and we found a children’s bible that not only had everyone looking tanned-European (and Jesus and Mary were brunette, but with sun-in highlights), but the Old Testament patriarchs and every villianous character had… hooked noses. I swear. I slammed that book back like my hand was scorched. I can’t imagine giving that to a kid (and this is from someone who had a Jehovah’s Witness children’s bible with some pretty intensely graphic pictures).
Wow! What wonderful resources! Thank you Heidi for asking this great question! One of the artists from my site illustrated the following bible story book that I’ve enjoyed with my girls when they were little: http://www.amazon.com/Preschoolers-Bible-V-Gilbert-Beers/dp/156476317X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220406890&sr=8-1
The illustrations are very diverse!
In addition to seeing and reading the many fine Biblical books listed in the above comments, readers who wish to see an absolutely magnificent montage and incredible range of multi-racial depictions of Biblical figures are strongly encouraged to visit the Basilica in Washington, DC. It is the third largest church building in the world. It contains virtually hundreds of large, incredibly beautiful frescoes and murals depicting such figures in virtually every racial diversity that humankind exists. It is a powerful homage to the multi-racial diversity that is simultaneously Christian and universal. While the Basilica is catholic, it is an experience not to be missed. If you ever are in the DC area with your children, take them there for a tour!
We have The Jesus Storybook Bible and love it. We also have the Lift -The-Flap one recommended and that’s all we were aware of – people look at us funny when we say we don’t want the white Jesus variety.
Jago~~I love your illustrations. They are so cool. Do you have links to samples of the Jesus Storybook Bible including text so I can see what level it is written at? Thank you very much.
SongHu,
Thanks for the information about the Basilica!
Hi S’s mom: I’m afraid I don’t but I’m pretty sure the author has a downloadable PDF sample on her site, have a look here:
http://sallylloyd-jones.com/welcome.html
Bearing in mind that some sub-Saharan groups have told UNESCO that their ancestors migrated out of north and northeastern Africa because of the eighth century Arab invasions, some might like to examine the African Heritage Study Bible for purchase. It has representations of what the people from different phenotypes may have looked like in the area during Biblical times.
In addition, some might like to read the following:
1)http://www.theturkishtimes.com/archive/02/12_15/c_santa.html
2) http://www.theturkishtimes.com/archive/03/0103/f_santa.html
3)
Chandler, Wayne B. – Ancient Future (try amazon.com)