It's 2014. How long are we going to have to wait for publishers to realize that there are Bible stories about girls and women???
There is an unwritten canon of bible stories for kids. Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham (but not Sarah), Joseph, no judges except possible Samson, David and Goliath, Daniel, then boom, Jesus. Maybe a story about the Virgin Mary. Which means we get to learn about genocide, mass extinction, violence, killing, and lion's dens. Wait, what?
Let's see, what if we told some of the women's stories in the Bible? Like Miriam and Jochebed, who saved Moses' life? What little girl wouldn't relate to Miriam's heroism as she watches over her brother and tricks the Princess into paying Jochebed to nurse her OWN SON? How about Sarah, who learns that if you wait patiently, God answers prayers. How about Deborah, a judge who didn't actually kill anyone, but still managed to lead an army and bring peace to Israel? But if you want violence, hey, tell about Jael, who was the fulfillment of Deborah's prophecy? Let's not forget Ruth, who was loyal and was rewarded for it. Or the story of Esther, who used her beauty and her brains to stop a genocide. Sounds like stories I want my children to hear. Stories that, for the most part, don't raise troubling questions like, "Why did God kill all the people not on the Ark?" or "Why did God kill the first born babies in Egypt?" or "So if a bully threatens me I should throw rocks at him like David did?"
I'm exaggerating, but I'm angry. I'm not just angry because my mom and I have written an awesome Bible story book focusing on 22, yes twenty-two, awesome heroic women of the Bible and it doesn't have an agent yet. I'm angry because no one is addressing this. No one seems to have noticed that we get the same old stale Bible stories in new books each year. Or that the only girl oriented Bible story books are so offensively pink and princess oriented that they lose the impact of the stories.
Come on, authors! Come on publishers! I dare you to tell the stories of the women of the Bible. Sell the book to both girls AND boys. DO something!
Look into CreateSpace (or other self-publishing venues). They are owned by Amazon, and you will also have the option to publish as a Kindle book.
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