Kelly Pulley is no stranger to
making Bible stories accessible
to young readers.
As the illustrator behind the
best selling Beginner’s Bible
series, he has created hundreds
of illustrations based on
stories from the Bible.
His new series, the Magnificent
Tales, is similar to the
Beginner’s Bible series in that
it tells stories from the Bible for
young readers. But it is also different
in a number of ways. “The
Magnificent Tales series targets
a little higher reading level with
longer, more complex stories,
but it’s written in rhyme, which
makes it fun for all ages,” Kelly
explains. “Also, the art is a bit
more contemporary.”
The biggest difference,
though, is that
he didn’t just illustrate
these books, he
also wrote them. “My
hope is that children
will find these stories
fun and entertaining,
and that they will
spark an interest in
reading the Bible, so
I try to stay as true to
the original versions
of the stories as I can,”
he says. “With that in
mind, it helps to start out with the most interesting
and action packed stories possible.”
The first two stories he chose to tell were
Jonah and Jesus’ birth, which were published
just in time for Christmas. The two followup
books, The Biggest and Toughest, which tells the
story of David and Goliath, and Daniel for Lunch,
the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, (David C.
Cook) were chosen because they “are great stories
with great lessons and they are two of my
favorite Old Testament stories.”
Kelly feels blessed to have the chance to work
on the different books and series he has been
involved with. “That’s where God has led me,” he
says. “It’s also where He’s gifted me. It’s a blessing
to be able to serve God every day doing what
I love to do.”