The Great Escape (Arch Books)

 The Great Escape
Arch Books
Written by Mary Warren
Illustrated by Jim Roberts

Copyright 1966
Format: Paperback
Status: Not currently in print, but pre-owned copies are available on ebay and other Arch books are available from Concordia Publishing
Conclusion: Keep (but fix with a label maker)

I'll admit, I've been very disappointed with our collection of Moses books so far.  Apparently I wasn't as familiar with the details of his story as I should have been. Of the five books I have reviewed, only two of them have been accurate enough to keep in our library. On the bright side, at least I can be confident of the stories that do remain. 

The book I am reviewing today has been in our library for ages, but hasn't been a favorite of either of my children (mostly because we had another book that covered the same stories that they both liked more).  However, after reading through it, I could tell that this one was a winner. It's another Arch book.  I'm amazed that it has taken  me this long to review a second Arch book considering just how many of them we have in our collection.  This particular story is about the Exodus.  It includes a partial story of the Ten Plagues and concludes with Moses leading his people across the Red Sea. 

The Good Points:

• It is fairly close to the Bible.
• The story is written in rhyme to make it entertaining for children, and easy to remember.
• This Arch book includes Aaron, which is a detail that many other Moses books frequently skip.
• It also includes many other details that other versions have skipped, like Pharaoh changing his mind repeatedly, or God using a pillar of fire and cloud to guide the Israelites to the Red Sea.
• The book begins with children celebrating Passover, and their father explaining the history of their celebration.  This could allow children to access prior knowledge.  This is also described in Exodus 12:26-27 where God gives the Israelites instructions about how to Celebrate the Passover in the future, and that the people are supposed to tell this story to their children.
• It includes details about how the Israelites had to prepare for the Angel of Death to pass them over.
• This book also include details about making the bread without yeast, which connects it to the opening pages with children eating the Passover dinner.
• The book ends by mentioning that the Israelites sang a prayer of victory once they crossed the Red sea, which is a great detail to include.
• There is a note to parents at the end of the book asking them to help their child see God's love for his people in this story, and asking them to help their child see how this story fits in with God's promises and the plan for his people.

The Discrepancies:

• This book covers such a huge amount of the Bible that much of it is necessarily condensed or skipped in order to make it a short enough length for a children's story.
• It does not include any of Moses's history with Egypt.
• While this book does mention the burning bush, it does not include Moses arguing with God and trying to insist that he is the wrong person.
• The book skips the miracles that God teaches Moses to perform in order to convince Pharaoh.
• In this Arch book, it says that Moses went to Egypt to see how hard the people were forced to work, then he found his brother Aaron.  In the Bible, God speaks to Aaron and sends him into the desert to meet Moses, then together they go into Egypt to meet with the Israelites.
• This book says that Moses and Aaron bowed down to Pharaoh when they told him of God's wishes.  The Bible never mentions Moses or Aaron bowing to Pharaoh.  I've chosen to fix this part of the story with a label maker. See below for details.
• The Ten Plagues are condensed. This book includes the plague of frogs, the Nile turning to blood, the plague of flies, gnats (referred to as "other bugs" so perhaps this could include the plague of locusts too), boils (generalized as people getting sick), and then the death of Egyptian children.  It skips the plague against the livestock, the hail, and the darkness.
• In the final plague, the Arch book only states that Egyptian sons were killed. It doesn't specify that it was only the first born, nor does it specify that it was all of them.
• After the Israelites cross the Red Sea, and God closes the water again, this storybook says that "many" men were drowned. The Bible says that "all" of the Egyptians who chase the Israelites were killed.

There may be a lot of things this books skips or condenses, but there are so many things it does right too.  It may not be perfect, but I'm quite impressed with how much it managed to accurately fit into such a short story, and it did it all in rhyme!  I'm happy to keep this book in our collection, especially since we determined that our other book about The Plagues and Exodus made too many mistakes and had to go.  The publisher recommends Arch books for ages 5-9, but my kids have enjoyed them as read-alouds a young as 3.

Here's how to change the words in the spot where Moses bows to Pharaoh.  The book originally says

"Inside the mighty palace,

before the golden throne,

they bowed down low to Pharaoh

and made God's wishes known."

I used a label maker to change the third line so it reads, "they both approached Pharaoh".  It's a quick and easy way to solve that problem.