Film / Book Reviews

New picture book by ODB explains the concept of sin to young children

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Zoey and Robey’s Big Fix is a children’s picture book designed to help parents, churches and Christian organisations share the gospel with young children. This book is the first of five titles that Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is producing under its Gospel Before 6 campaign. It was launched on 13 July at the recent Bible Conference, titled The Daunting Privilege: Reaching Children with the Gospel.

The story is about Zoey, a young girl, and her best friend Robey, a robot built by her father. Robey has always been a source of support to Zoey and assists her with her day-to-day activities like brushing her teeth and taking her to school. However, one unfortunate night changed it all. A software update—which was infected with a virus—ended up corrupting Robey’s core system, changing the way Robey treated Zoey. He became extremely mean to her and caused her to become very upset.

After several attempts by Zoey to fix him, Zoey realises that only Robey’s creator, her father, can bring him back to life. However, it would involve a costly solution—using the “control centre” of another cherished robot, Filius.

This story, written by children’s author Sophia Huang, uses simple words to narrate the plot so that it can be easily understood by children. She does a fine job of using a virus as a metaphor for sins committed by people. The last section of the book also provides a guide for parents to help explain biblical concepts with references to the story.

As a parent of a young toddler, I would highly recommend that parents read this book with their children, as it teaches important but hard-to-explain concepts such as God the Maker, sin, and how Jesus died on the cross to save us. In addition, the beautiful illustrations will appeal to children, especially those between four to ten years old. I recommend that parents read this book with their child so that concepts from the gospel can be taught clearly. Parents can also conclude the story session with their children by saying the joint prayer on the last page of the book.

The Gospel Before 6 campaign is an initiative by Our Daily Bread Ministries that aims to equip parents to share the gospel with their children. A target to print 10,000 copies of Zoey and Robey’s Big Fix has been set, and ODB aims to distribute the book through churches and Christian organisations, translate it into other languages for distribution around Asia and to produce four more children’s titles.

To support this campaign or request for this resource, visit odb.sg/gospel-before-6/

For requests for bulk quantities by churches, WhatsApp ODB at 8725 8182 or email joel.li@odb.org.

Grace Tan is a communications professional and worships at Wesley Methodist Church where she serves in the floral ministry. / Book cover art courtesy of Our Daily Bread Singapore

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