The Story of Daniel And the Lions (Alice in Bibleland)

 The Story of Daniel and the Lions
An Alice in Bibleland Storybook
Written by Alice Joyce Davidson
Illustrated by Victoria Marshall
Copyright: 1986
Format: Hardcover
Status: Not currently in print, but many pre-owned copies are available on ebay

Conclusion: keep

In my last review, I covered one of my son's favorite Bible stories from when he was very young.  Today I am covering his current favorite story.  It is another of the Alice in Bibleland stories where Alice uses her magic book to go back and watch (but not participate in) events from the Bible. I happen to like the Alice in Bibleland books a lot.  Overall they have done a wonderful job sticking close to the Bible, yet creating fun stories for kids. However, I know of at least one Alice story that didn't make the cut for our personal library (it was the Christmas story, which I have not reviewed yet).  Let's see if the Daniel story is up to the series' usual standards.

The Good Points:

• This storybook stays very true to the Bible.
• The pictures are very colorful and interesting.
• The story gives a quick introduction as to how Daniel ended up in Babylon.
• The book is written in rhyme, so it is fun and easy to remember.

The Discrepancies:

• Like all Alice in Bibleland books, it has the discrepancy of a girl from our time going back to watch the events from the Bible.  If this is something you do not like, you will want to avoid all Alice in Bibleland books.
• This is not a discrepancy, but I am putting it here so readers are aware of how much has been left out. Aside from a quick sentence to explain to how Daniel was captured as boy, most of the first part of Daniel is skipped. It doesn't mention King Nubuchadnezzar, King Belshazzar, nor Daniel's interpretation of their dreams.  This particular Daniel book begins in Daniel Chapter 6. 
• The illustrations portray Daniel as a young man, but Biblical scholars believe he was an old man, most likely in his 80s, when he was thrown into the lion's den.
• The illustration of Daniel being brought to Babylon as a child shows him walking through the Ishtar Gate of Babylon.  I like the illustrator attempt to make the drawings accurate and realistic, but this gate most likely would not have been built yet.  Daniel was brought to Babylon in approximately 605 BC, but the gate was built about 30 years later in 575 BC.

This book holds up very well to scrutiny, like most of the Alice in Bibleland series.  I remain impressed with this series and I'm glad my son will get to keep his favorite book. As I was reading through this book, I was reminded of just how different my two children are from each other.  When I would read this book with my daughter, she loved to focus on how Alice had a pet kitty.  My son loves to point out the different expressions on the lions' faces.

As with most of the Alice stories, the book ends with Alice returning to her own time, and summarizing the lessons she learned.  Here is the summary from the Daniel book:

When Alice said her prayers that night, 

In her heart she knew

That God who cared for Daniel

Would always bless her, too.

For God's kingdom is forever.

He saves the great and small.

And best of all, as Alice knows,

God loves us one and all.