The Fall of Jericho in Joshua 6 is a popular and famous story. I looked at all the children's Bible story books in our house and the episode was in every single one. There are, however, significant variations in the way it is told.
It can be a helpful exercise to look at how a particular passage of Scripture is dealt with in children's story Bibles. There will be some interpretation necessary as biblical scenes are depicted visually. There will also be things added, omitted, and changed. These can all help us notice important things in the story.
This article looks at seven versions of the story: one is a stand-alone book, The Wall That Did Not Fall (1994) from the Me Too! series. The other six are from Bible story books: The Beginner's Bible (1997), The Big Picture Story Bible (2004), The Candle Bible for Toddlers (2006), The Jesus Storybook Bible (2007), The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (2022), and The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook (2022).
Title
Not all the children's story Bibles have chapter titles, but those that do show a variety in the emphasis they make: some make it about Joshua (e.g. The Jesus Storybook Bible has “The warrior leader”) while others focus on the walls of Jericho (e.g. The Beginner's Bible: “A Wall Falls Down”). The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook is unusual in having “Entering the Kingdom”.
Context
There are two different approaches used in setting the scene for this story. The Wall That Did Not Fall and The Beginner's Bible place it as part of the story of Rahab. Most books, on the other hand, place the story of Jericho in the context of the conquest of the Promised Land. For example, The Jesus Storybook Bible says, “And how happy they were to reach the edge of the desert and see their beautiful new home. Right there in front of them, all cool and green and lovely. There was only one problem. Jericho.” The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook does a good job of using both contexts.
Although all the children's story Bibles mention Joshua, not all of them picture him. Some books, like The Big Picture Story Bible and The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook, refer to God's words to Joshua in 1:9: “Be strong and courageous”.
Emphases
The role of the ark is sadly downplayed in most of these stories: only The Candle Bible for Toddlers (which calls it “the special box from God's tent”) and The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook mention the ark; The Big Picture Story Bible depicts it but does not refer to it in its text.
Instead, the children's story Bibles tend to focus on the marching and the noise that the Israelites make: “all the people would shout with great big outside voices” (The Biggest Story Bible Storybook). A number of them emphasize the numbers: marching around for six days, and seven times on the seventh day.
Most of the books highlight the Israelites' obedience: The Wall That Did Not Fall does this best with a repeated refrain, “Why did they do that? Because God told them to.” Faith doesn't receive the same emphasis, however, even though that was what prompted the obedience and is the thing that the New Testament highlights: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days” (Hebrews 11:30). Only The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook says “Joshua believed God's promise”, while The Biggest Story Bible Storybook has “Israel had to trust God to do exactly what he told them to do.”
Not surprisingly, the conquest tends to be downplayed. The Wall That Did Not Fall comes closest to biblical accuracy when it notes how “Jericho went up in flames”, while The Biggest Story Bible Storybook says “God gave their enemies into their hands”. The emphasis in the biblical narrative, however, is on how the city of Jericho was “devoted to destruction”.
Conclusion
This brief study has demonstrated how it is easy to misread a biblical text by emphasizing some things and downplaying others. Obviously, when we tell (or preach from) a Bible story we don't have to include every detail, but we need to be careful in doing so that we do not skew the emphasis that the Bible itself has.
Of course, parents can still use these sorts of story Bibles. It is important, however, that we know the Bible stories ourselves, and be willing to expand on what is before us. The visual clues in the pictures can help us do that: some books, like The Big Picture Story Bible, seem in fact to be designed for this very purpose. So even if the ark is not mentioned, we can still talk to our kids about it.
For parents looking for a children's story Bible, The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook is the best available, followed by The Big Picture Story Bible.