The Serpent Slayer - A Review

How do you get biblical theology to your children?

For those of us committed to discipling our children by helping them understand the big picture of Scripture as one narrative of God’s providence from creation to the fall, then through his redemption and final consummation, this can be a daunting task.

Sunday school is a powerful tool, with excellent curricula like LifeWay’s The Gospel Project pounding away at the big picture, reminding youngsters (and the adults that use the curriculum) that every story in the Bible whispers Jesus’ name. It’s good that curricula that teach biblical theology exists and are readily accessible to churches.

But what about the spaces between Sundays and Wednesdays when the Boxcar Kids, Harry Potter, Encyclopedia Brown, and the Animorphs capture our children’s attention? Should we try to backfit some Jesus ideas into those narratives and try to make connections?

There are cases where it can be helpful. Harry Potter is, of course, a type of Christ. J. K. Rowling has admitted as much. But teaching kids about “the Gospel in the Marvel Comic Universe” is a stretch and even the least discerning kids typically recognize it as such.

In a recent book Champ Thornton and Andy Naselli attempt a different approach to providing an imaginative pathway to teaching these basic biblical truths. New Growth Press released The Serpent Slayer early in 2022.

The book is a middle grade level chapter book that follows twins, Nomi and Emmet, as they have a wild adventure where they get sucked into stories that turn out to be part of the biblical story line. There’s a little bit of mystery, a little bit of Never Ending Story, some repentance and moral truth telling, along with unmistakable elements of biblical theology.

The story is carried along with riddles that will likely seem transparent to an educated reader, but which will be engaging for the 9-13 year-old target audience. There are twenty-five concise chapters that keep the plot moving along in the 135 page volume. Readers that have cut their teeth on The Mysterious Benedict Society and similar tomes will find this book a light snack in comparison. But there is some meat in the content, so the authors included a Reader’s Guide at the end that helps make clear the symbolism for kids that need a little help putting the pieces together.

There are elements of magic within the book, which may make some parents skittish. But when this is put in context of the theological grounding that Naselli and Thornton have demonstrated in their other works, there is good reason to expect that the mysterious events remain a devise to move the plot rather than a subject to be explored. In order to be interesting, there needs to be something out of the ordinary as a hook.

The book is intended to be the beginning of a series. There is a fair amount of space invested in introducing the characters. Later books may have opportunity for more thorough character development because the foundation is already laid. As far as tone and quality, this has more of the feel of The Hardy Boys than The Chronicles of Prydain, but at the rate many kids devour literature this is a welcome addition to a church book shelf, a home library, or even as something to request for your local library.

The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles: The Kambur Chronicles (The Kámbur Chronicles)

By Champ Thornton, Andrew Naselli

Buy on Amazon

NOTE: I received a gratis copy of this volume from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.

The Radical Book For Kids - A Review

The Radical Book for Kids is one of those books that makes you exclaim, “I wish I’d had this when I was a kid.” In fact, I said this so many times while reading this book, I risked annoying my wife. Turns out, one of the endorsers had the same thought I did, but I didn’t notice that until I was half way through the book.

The simplest way to explain this volume is to compare it to a basic overview of Christianity presented in the format of the Dangerous Book for Boys (or girls). The closest equivalent to this book that was around when I was a kid would have been a Boy Scout Handbook.

This description, however, risks making this sound like a Christian knock off. That wouldn’t be fair to the author, Champ Thornton. He may have been inspired by the format, but this is a book that deserves to be considered on its own merits.

The Radical Book for Kids: Exploring the Roots and Shoots of Faith is filled with brilliant colors, attractive graphic design, and oodles of information. This is the sort of book that draws you into reading it, if just to admire the pictures.

There are no chapters or clear segments in the book, though there is an order and progression to it when reading it from cover to cover. It’s the sort of book meant for opening randomly on a Sunday afternoon.

When you open the book, you might find yourself reading a summary of the biblical story line, learning how to make a sling, or reading a biography of a great Christian. At another reading, you could discover the different systems of money used in the Bible, learn why manners matter, or getting introduced to the structure of a New Testament Epistle. At a different time, you might find yourself learning the Greek alphabet, exploring images of Christ in literature, or reading tips on how to memorize something.

Thornton combines biblical survey, typological teaching, hermeneutics, systematic theology, and church history into a coherent jumble of discipleship. He’s included a few jokes, some trivia, and occasional games with eternal truths that will really help kids understand more about the Christian faith.

The whole book pitches important topics at the right level for kids to understand. If I had to give an age range, I’d say 7-140 is about right. I am confident my first graders will enjoy this as much as my preteen.

This lively book will be a great gift for the kid who has been sitting through church, Sunday school, and AWANA for years, but still hasn’t gotten the big picture. That’s the greatest strength of this volume, it continually shows how the gospel holds everything together. Even though it is filled with a variety of information, it has one consistent theme.

Once you give this to your kids, expect to be peppered with random facts about Christianity. You may also be roped into playing “Dogs and Jackals” or making a ‘clay’ pot with them. You’ll probably have to make sure all the kids get a turn with it, too, though that will likely settle down in a few weeks.

If there is one critique of the book, it is that there are some pop culture references that may seem dated in 20 years. However, none of them are critical to the book, and at that point you’re considering the value for your grandkids.

So, buy the book, give it to a kid you know, and watch them enjoy exploring the depths of it. This really is an excellent volume that deserves a place in your home.

The Radical Book for Kids: Exploring the Roots and Shoots of Faith

$21.36

By Champ Thornton

Buy on Amazon

Note: I received a gratis copy of this volume from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.