Review of "Jellybean Gospel and the Born Again Bunny" by Wanda Roush

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)

Evangelism is tough work! The human heart is a tough nut to crack.
Thankfully, there are books like Jellybean Gospel and the Born Again Bunny by Wanda Roush to help introduce kids to the subject of salvation through Jesus Christ!

First and foremost, Jellybean Gospel and the Born Again Bunny is one of the best-illustrated Christian children's books we've seen! It's one of the best-illustrated children's books of the year PERIOD! Why? Well, let's start with the traditionally-styled illustrations (which appear hand-drawn) that incorporate what appear to be color-pencil and watercolor with digital refinement. What really does it for us are the colors. The pastel colors in this book—blue, pink, yellow, and green—perfectly match the Easter theme.

It also helps that the characters look cute, beautiful, and adorable.

Little Larva (the baby butterfly) is one of the cutest characters we've ever seen. She looks a bit like Tomo from Marky the Magnificent Fairy by Cynthia Kern Obrien, yellow with cute, chubby cheeks and little stubby arms.

The other butterflies also look terrific, so does the Easter Bunny.

This book is a bit clunky, featuring two key stories that we're supposed to accept are complementary. We felt they didn't quite mesh together (in fact, they kind of clash, in our opinion), but we're willing to overlook that because of all of this book's other positive traits.

The opening of this book follows a butterfly larva called "Little Larva" as she awakens in Egg Land, a magical place inhabited by the Easter Bunny and butterflies who (apparently) add all the Easter eggs to the Easter Bunny's Easter baskets. Little Larva, somewhat inexplicably, travels off on her own. We're not quite sure if she does this because she doesn't want to go down the same path as the rest of her kin/kind or if she does it because she's unable to progress to her butterfly stage in such a hectic environment. We're actually told that she leaves for "reasons not clear."

Little Larva forms her new cocoon right outside the window of a little boy named "Little Lad" and his Christian family.

Little Lad becomes the focus for most of the remainder of the book. In fact, Little Larva's character and arc pretty much get brushed to the side beside a brief mention of her sleeping better when Little Lad is not home.

Little Lad is a prodigal son—rebellious and disobedient. He doesn't do his chores or clean up after himself. He stirs trouble ("discord") and fights with his sister. He talks back to his parents and throws things when he's upset.

Then, one day, he has a change of heart. At Sunday school, he engages in a jelly bean activity that opens his eyes and serves as an epiphany, helping him to realize the error of his ways and turn his life over to Jesus.

This jelly bean activity is the crux and turning point of the entire book. Not only does it lead to Little Lad's change of heart, it also converts Little Larva and even the Easter Bunny!

We're not quite sure that it was adequately explained or presented. We're not quite sure that it hit the way the author intended. In fact, we really felt like Little Lad's arc and the whole jelly bean thing was rushed. It also seemed really contrived and inorganic. Yes, people have epiphanies. Sometimes, it's when someone in the family passes away (or they survive illness). Sometimes, it's from seeing an impactful scene in a movie or reading a book.

But jelly beans?

Ok, we'll try to play along.

Little Lad instantly becomes a completely different kind of character. He's polite. He's well-behaved. He says his prayers.

It's true that Jesus changes lives. He can open eyes. He can open doors. He can work miracles.
Yes.

But... this seemed rushed.
Like, when Saul was converted, by some accounts he got hit by lightning. In other words, he almost died. That's something that speaks to everyone. A lot of us are afraid of dying. A lot of us are afraid of the sight of lightning and the sound of thunder.

Heck, he saw and heard Jesus post-resurrection. That's enough to wake anyone up.

But... jelly beans?
It would help if the activity itself were more digestible, easier to understand, and explained better. What's strange is that there are multiple panels in this book that attempt to explain the jelly beans and what each of them means. There's actually a whole section at the end with Bible verses and all corresponding to each jelly bean. Unfortunately, the dark-blue text in that section makes it hard to read against the light-blue background. Thankfully, the rest of the text in this book is easy to read.

The writing is adequate. An attempt is made at simple rhyme scheme like (AA and ABAB). However, sometimes it can read as contrived or clunky.

We also had to wrestle with the whole idea of a bug and a bunny being converted to Christianity by the blood of our savior, Jesus Christ. That's... a lot to buy into. When Phil Vischer talked to his mother about creating Veggie Tales (perhaps the most successful Christian animated series ever), his mother gave him a great bit of advice: Just don't push the idea that the vegetables can get or are seeking salvation. Why? Well, because human beings were made in the image of God. Vegetables, butterflies, and rabbits were not.

But we digress.

Obviously, this story is meant to be symbolic.
The Easter Bunny represents a human person who may be outside the faith and whom it is possible to reach/evangelize to.

It should also be noted that, despite us saying that Little Larva's story and Little Lad's story don't seem to mesh well, they do parallel and mirror each other. Both, in a sense, are prodigal children who abandoned what their parents wanted for them. Both have their eyes open to Christianity and change their lives for the better.

So, we're a bit torn about how to score this book. We loved the illustrations, we thought some of the characters were cute, and we love the overall message, but we're not quite on board with the framing and how the message is conveyed. It seems contrived and a bit shoehorned in.

But if you're trying to introduce your children to Jesus during the Easter holiday, this book may be worth a try.

Check it out on Amazon!