Living God's Way: Bible Stories Retold for Children in Today's World

David M. Kelly is a teaching assistant at Brock University in St.
Catharines.

In Living God’s Way, Milton presents a collection of Bible stories
retold for children in “today’s world.” As he takes pains to point
out in his introduction, the book is not a children’s Bible but a
retelling of certain key New and Old Testament themes from the point of
view of a “white Canadian male” strongly influenced by feminism and
a Mennonite heritage.

The book reflects it. Milton has struggled so hard to avoid the
“sexist, racist, triumphalist and militarist” elements in previous
children’s Bible stories that he has produced a work so uncommonly
nice it’s lifeless. Dull, saccharine-sweet, lacklustre qualities do
not make for interesting reading for children (in this case, very young
children) of any age. While gentility and niceness are all well and
good, it’s never a wise idea to overdose on them. Sadly, with the best
of intentions, Milton has done just that.

The illustrations share with the text a lack of vibrancy. The
characters are neither real nor interesting. In short, the book’s a
regrettable disappointment.