Old Testament Rhymes

How does a young child begin to make sense of all the people and events of the Old Testament—and understand that they are all leading somewhere?

In Old Testament Rhymes, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson gives smaller children a simple thread of salvation history upon which everything they learn later can be hung. Twenty-five lively rhymes carry them from Creation and the Fall through the patriarchs, Moses, the kings and prophets, until at last the long story reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Benson's purpose is not to tell every Bible story in detail, but to help children see how those stories belong together—and especially how the people, promises and events of the Old Testament point forward to Our Lord. Thus familiar names and adventures begin to take their place in God's great plan of Redemption.  

Gabriel Pippet's illustrations make that thread visible. Each rhyme is accompanied by a vivid scene from the story, while an extraordinary continuous border of Old Testament figures and events surrounds every page, giving young children still more to discover in the pictures.

For this edition, we painstakingly restored Pippet's original illustrations and decorative borders, including the red accents of the original printing, allowing modern families to enjoy the book much as Benson and Pippet intended it to be seen.

See more details of this book in our before-and-after photo post!

8.5" x 11"     hardcover     32 pages

“A book intended to give to children a general idea of the course of Old Testament history from the Fall to the Redemption, especially of those incidents and personages that point to Christ. The rhymes are designedly simple and colloquial, as the book is meant for smaller children only, and the narrative may be thought very sketchy; but it is hoped that the book will form a kind of “thread,” easily discernible, on which the child may learn to connect his more explicit and detailed lessons.”

(taken from an advertisement for the book by its original publisher in 1913, Longmans, Green & Co.)