The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross Storybook: The true story of why Jesus died and rose again (Illustrated Bible overview/ gospel explanation. ... for Easter.) (Tales that Tell the Truth)

Product Information

Together with The Garden, The Curtain and The Cross storybook, these full color, full size illustrations allow you to read the story while showing the pictures on screen. The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross is basic, short Biblical theology geared toward young children but captivating enough for older children as well. I loved the way my four year was fascinated with the illustrations and even keep pace with the story itself. My eight year old was engaged with the details of the Temple and the curtain. It was a great learning tool, especially helpful right before Easter. yr old: I liked the book. My favorite picture is when God makes Adam and Eve. He made the animals and everything! I want to read this book all the time!

Gloria Furman's endorsement of this book sums up my feeling too, "I am so excited about this book! It is colorful, engaging, and creative, and that's just the icing on the cake! Our children receive invitations to participate in many different stories, stories of who they are, their purpose, and what God is like. The Garden, the Curtain and the Crossis a brilliant re-telling of the one story that rules all other stories. I cannot commend this book highly enough. Read it to your children, give it to your neighbors, and talk about what it means to live in light of the fact that the curtain has been torn." The Garden, the Curtain and The Cross takes children on a journey from the garden of Eden to God’s perfect new creation. It is a gospel presentation that focuses on the significance of the temple curtain. Children will learn why Jesus died and rose again and why that’s the best news ever. Yes, I agree there are good points in this book but I have some real concerns, sincere questions, about a few things that are written in “The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross.” In my humble opinion, parents and teachers should think through these things before reading it to children and be ready to explain. There are passages that could be confusing to both children and adults without discussion and reading the relevant scriptures. I humbly offer some food for thought, things that perhaps should be contemplated and discerned. God did not initiate a request for a temple to house Himself but David wanted to build one; David had it in his heart. God said, “Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day.” (2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles)

My kids and I really enjoyed this book. It is extremely creative and effective in it's use of storytelling, humor, and repetition. Especially my four year old (who loves songs) was already saying with me on our second reading, "Because of your sin, you can't come in." So, it was very easy after we finished reading it to have a discussion about sin and our need for Jesus's perfection. It is a very simple re-telling of the story of creation, the curtain in the temple, and the cross but is done in a way that is very clear and covers many plot points in the one story of redemption. I have never actually reviewed a children’s book before, but since adopting two children, suddenly the genre has become all the more important to me. Thus far I have read several Christian books to my kids. Some of them have been bad, and some very bad. Watered-down theology and dreadful moralism seem to characterize much of what is out there. Happily I can report there still several good resources out there for you, Christian parents. A great example would be The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross by Carl Laferton and illustrated by Catalina Echeverri. The first few panels set up the central conflict. Adam and Eve live in perfection in the Garden. (Sidenote: they are illustrated with tribal tattoos and drawings which is just lovely and thought-provoking.) But then they do a terrible thing. They decided they didn’t want to do what God said. They decided they wanted a world without God in charge. This, Laferton writes, is called “sin.” And because of that sin, the people could not live with God in the garden any longer.

I’ve read a lot of children’s Bible storybooks. I’ve never read one that put the curtain of the Holy of Holies into central focus. And yet, it’s that veil that serves as a visual metaphor for the separation between God and humanity due to sin. As such, it’s the perfect visual focus point for an illustrated children’s bible story book.This book is about Jesus saving us from our sin. I learned because of sin you can’t go to heaven. But Jesus died on the cross so we can. The most amazing part was when the curtain tore (because God tore it) The pictures in this book are colorful and I like that the people at the end glow. The illustrations in this book are stunning. They're beautifully nuanced, colorful, detailed, and full of life. As I stated, it is basic, short Biblical theology. The book perfectly brings down the concept of creation, fall redemption to a level children can understand. Laferton begins in the Garden with a perfect creation where, “There was nothing bad, ever. There was no one sad, ever.” Yet, sin came in and destroyed all of this. Now things were bad and people were sad. From that scene we are taken into the Temple where God Himself dwelt, but separated from man by a large curtain. Yet, God would become a man and die for our sins. The curtain separating man and God would be torn in two thus beginning God’s redemption of this world leading us to an eternal kingdom where “There was nothing bad, ever. There was no one sad, ever.” God’s creation will be restored and our relationship with Him forever settled. I am a father of four kids eight and under. So I read to them a lot. As far as religious kids' books, I like books that tell the old, old story well in a way that is both age appropriate and compelling. The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross is a great book. It gives kids age five to eight (my test group) a big picture sense of why Jesus died and rose again. Author Carl Laberton tells a story which is accessible for my kids and true to scripture. His story is beautifully illustrated by Catalina Echeverri's stunning illustrations. On the first day I got this book, I already read it several times with my kids. It opened up a great conversation with my eight year old about what the Bible tells about sin and we loved talking about what was happening in the pictures.