Sophie and the Heidelberg Cat
Andrew Wilson, illustrated by Helena Perez Garcia
Crossway, 2019
First off, this is a brilliant title for a book. I was motivated to pick it up after reading Andrew and Rachel Wilson’s tremendous book about their early years with autistic children: The Life We Never Expected. This one is very different: a children’s book, aimed at those aged 3 and up. Sophie, sad about being bad, meets a talking cat belonging to the Heidelbergs, who live next door.
Sophie and the cat go for a rooftop walk (perhaps a bit distracting as it led to our kids debating whether this was the right thing to do!) and the cat asks her what she thinks the Bible’s about.
“Easy,” says Sophie. “It’s trying to tell us how we can please God, and be kind and obey”.
The implication is that that’s the wrong answer.
And that she’s wrong as she goes on to say: “Be bold like King David, be brave like Queen Esther, and do what God tells you, no matter how scary”.
One problem with that is that kids may not get that it’s the wrong answer – our six year old said it was her favourite part of the book! The other problem is that Sophie’s words are all true. Yes, they’re not the main message of the Bible – but do we really want to belittle a child’s desire to “please God, and be kind and obey”, and “do what God tells you, no matter how scary”.
I know that nuance isn’t easy in a kids’ book – but as much as I advocate a redemptive historical view of Scripture, I was left wondering if the book could have been a bit more balanced.
The cat then goes on to tell Sophie that everyone she knows is ‘surprisingly bad’ when no-one can see. In a way the message is important, but believers and unbelievers are lumped together – with no optimism about the transforming power of the gospel.
Even as I write this, part of me is saying that the balance I’m looking for is unrealistic in a kids’ book. And it’s not like I feel particularly worried that the book will do harm. If our natural inclination is to look to our own efforts and read the Bible in a moralistic way, an overcorrection is probably not the worst thing in the world.
And the book does end strongly:
“The best and most comforting news in the world”, says the cat,
“is that I am not mine, and you are not yours”.
And with that we can all agree.
(And look forward to the day our kids hear about the Heidelberg Catechism, and the penny drops!)