Jesus Moments: David: Finding Jesus in the Story of David – Alison Mitchell and Noah Warnes

Jesus Moments: David: Finding Jesus in the Story of David by Alison Mitchell
Also by this author: Jesus and the Lions' Den: A True Story about How Daniel Points Us to Jesus, The Storm That Stopped, The One O'Clock Miracle, The Christmas Promise, All about Christmas: Over 100 Amazing Facts behind the Christmas Story, Queen Elizabeth II: The Queen Who Choose To Serve (Do Great Things For God), Jesus Moments: David
Series: Jesus Moments #1
Published by Good Book Company on March 1, 2024
Genres: Children's, Bible Stories
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four-stars

Help 4-7s learn how David points to Jesus with this beautifully illustrated Old Testament storybook from Alison Mitchell, the award-winning author of Jesus and the Lions’ Den and The One O’Clock Miracle.

Moments in David’s story when David is a little bit like Jesus are signposted with symbols that children need to spot, helping them to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.

This fun, interactive resource will give children skills to read the Bible as they connect the stories and learn that the whole Bible is about Jesus. Great for parents or grandparents to give children aged 4-7. Can also be used as a homeschool resource or for children’s ministry in church.

This is the first book in a series called "Jesus Moments," which looks at how Old Testament characters point to Jesus.

This unique Old Testament storybook shares snapshots from David’s early life and then connects aspects of David’s story to Jesus. At the beginning of the book, the author explains that if you look closely, you can see parallels to Jesus in different Old Testament stories. She encourages kids to look for hidden crowns in the illustrations, because these each signal a “Jesus moment.” There are four crowns hidden in Noah Warnes’s detailed illustrations, and they are surprisingly well-hidden. The target audience of elementary-aged kids will enjoy this seek-and-find element.

Throughout this book, Allison Mitchell summarizes some elements of David’s story, up to him becoming King of Israel. She writes in an engaging, conversational style that also includes interactive questions. The illustrations from Noah Warnes help tell the story and convey dramatic moments, but I felt that some of them were a little too dark and monochrome. I also wish that Mitchell had directly explained that Jesus came from the lineage of David. She connects Jesus to a promise that God gave David, but it isn’t clear in the text that Jesus was a direct descendant from this king.

Jesus Moments: David: Finding Jesus in the Story of David is the first book in a new series that teaches kids about how Old Testament stories point to Jesus. I think that there is room for improvement, especially since the pages with low-contrast illustrations won’t be as easy for kids to see when someone is reading this out loud to a whole group, but I enjoyed this as a whole. I would recommend this to Christian families and churches, and I look forward to future books in this series.

four-stars