For decades, Catholic parents looking for storybook Bibles often found themselves out of luck. There weren’t many options to choose from, and few of them carried a distinctly Catholic perspective.
That’s about to change.
It’s time for Catholic parents to get excited for “The Story of All Stories,” forthcoming from Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, a nonprofit media brand affiliated with Bishop Robert Barron. This unique Catholic storybook Bible is designed to lead children through salvation history as one unified narrative rather than by telling individual stories.
“The Story of All Stories” is written for readers ages 7 to 13. But, as award-winning Catholic author Emily Stimpson Chapman told The Daily Wire in an exclusive first-look interview, this Bible is meant for the whole family to enjoy together.
Word on Fire
The author stated that there are decent children’s Bibles that exist, but this one is different. “The thing that sets [this Bible] the most apart… it tells the whole story. It is one coherent story. It’s not episodic,” she said. Another element is that “it takes children and their faith very seriously. It does not try to dumb down the stories.”
Each chapter includes a Biblical story along with Key Points, Key Connections, and Key Quotes, which are short reflections from saints, popes, and Church Fathers that help young readers see how Christians have understood Scripture for more than 2,000 years.
Word on Fire
“My four- and five-year-olds take something away, but my seven-year-old takes even more. And when he’s 10 or 12, he’ll take even more still. That’s because the book is teaching kids how to read the Bible from the heart of the Church,” Chapman, a mom of three young kids, said.
In other words, it’s a storybook Bible designed to grow with the child, preparing them for the day when they’ll encounter the full Bible themselves and be better equipped to make those connections on their own.
Chapman also touted the beauty of the book, which includes 496 pages of full-color illustrations by artist Diana Renzina. The author said that when Chapman was first approached about doing the book several years ago, she turned down the offer. But the beauty of the imagery changed her mind.
Word on Fire
“When they actually called me up to write it, I said no, because I had a one-year-old and a two-year-old and a four-year-old at the time, and I was like, I cannot write your children’s Bible. This is not that season. And then they asked again, and I said no,” she recalled.
“And then they said, well, just sit down and meet with us and let us show you what we’re envisioning,” Chapman said. “And it was actually when I saw the art that they had in mind for it, because I’ve seen so many children’s Bibles, and they’re kitschy or cutesy or cartoonish. And then I saw what they wanted to do with this, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be beautiful.’”
“The Story of All Stories” weaves together 75 stories from Creation to the life of Christ, complemented by timeless, icon-like illustrations alongside commentary that brings it all together. 
Word on Fire
Chapman said now is the right time for a renaissance in Catholic scripture scholarship aimed at children.
“Pope Benedict was an incredible Scripture scholar,” she said. “People who really studied and learned from him, like Bishop Barron, like [theologian] Scott Hahn, they started reintroducing Catholics to ancient ways of reading Scripture. And now we’re at the point where we’re like, okay, we have to make this accessible to kids. Let’s take this great Scripture scholarship that Catholics have been doing over the past 20 years and use it to paint a picture for children of what salvation history looks like.”
Pulling it off wasn’t simple. “The Story of All Stories” took two and a half years to complete, due in part to its unique approach. Unlike other story Bibles that cherry-pick episodes or flatten them into oversimplified parables, Chapman’s book treats salvation history as one continuous narrative, carefully connecting the Old and New Testaments.
And she did it all while respecting her audience of children, who deserved a narrative as beautiful as the photos that went along with it.
Word on Fire
“People are always like, your kids are so verbal,” she told The Daily Wire, reiterating that she’s not one for talking down to children. “I think a lot of times when people try to make Scripture ‘accessible,’ they dumb it down too much. We want to lift the kids up. And a 10-year-old is not going to feel insulted reading the Bible because it’s speaking in beautiful words and there’s beautiful pictures.”
The book is written in a style designed to capture attention, much like a parent might tell a story around the dinner table.
“[Word on Fire] gave me a lot of freedom with the writing,” Chapman said. “They’re like, make it funny, make it dramatic, you know, like tell the story. It is really like you invite me into your house and say, ‘Emily, could you tell the kids the story of Noah and the Ark, or tell them the story of King David?’ And I want to keep their attention.”
Word on Fire
But how is it possible to cover the entire Bible in just 75 stories and do it justice? Chapman says the process was painstaking, but ultimately rewarding. She said it started with her coming up with a list of stories that had to be included, and Word on Fire doing the same. Then, there were numerous revisions, adaptations, condensations, and edits throughout.
“It was an evolving thing,” she said of the book.
The author said the most challenging story to tell, the book of Revelation, was also her favorite.
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“You know, it’s a vision of this salvation history unfolding in heaven… from the great battle where Satan rebels all the way through until the end when Jesus creates the new heavens and the new earth. So you’re like, well, how do I make that accessible for an eight-year-old when we’ve all been puzzling over it for years?”
Her solution was to borrow inspiration from C.S. Lewis’s “The Last Battle,” where Aslan tells the children that the end is really just the beginning.
“And so I crafted it in such a way that I was bringing the Bible to a conclusion, but also showing the children how much more there is to come and using Revelation as a jumping point for helping kids to see you are standing in the stream of salvation history.”
Word on Fire
Chapman says she’s been reading “The Story of All Stories” aloud to her own children for months.
“My kids love it,” she said, mentioning a recent evening when her son wanted her to keep reading. “That’s always encouraging to see, how engaged they are with it.”
She hopes other families will experience the same.
“So there’s a lot of adults [who] know the stories. They know some Bible verses, but to see the whole story, and to see God’s plan, and to see the connections and how rooted it is in Church history. I think it’s an opportunity for whole families to rediscover the Scriptures together.”
With its stunning illustrations, elevated language, and deep theological roots, The Story of All Stories is more than just another children’s Bible. It’s a long-awaited resource that connects kids and their parents to the richness of Scripture as the Catholic Church has always read it. It tells the whole story of God’s love from the beginning of time until today and forever.
“The Story of All Stories” is currently available for pre-order from Word on Fire. It will be released on October 13, 2025.
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