The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats

The Ballad of Matthew's Begats: An Unlikely Royal Family Tree , Andrew Peterson
(Thomas Nelson, 2007)
Hb., 32 pp.
Ages 4-10

Andrew Peterson’s Christmas CD Behold the Lamb of God has been a favorite of our family’s for some time. Among other things he does good biblical theology in the songs. So, when I saw that he had put the lyrics of one song into a children’s book I was intrigued. This book basically pairs the lyrics to his song on the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of Matthew with fun illustrations. If you have not heard the song you might wonder at a song- much less a children’s book!- on a genealogy. But Peterson has done a good job with it, having fun and highlighting how it points to Christ. This book then is a fun, useful book for younger children.
In addition to the song lyrics Peterson includes “Did You Know” facts about certain individuals in he genealogy. This is a further help in teaching children about biblical characters. One small critique here is that the book, like most treatments, points out the great wickedness of Manasseh but does not mention his late repentance.

We enjoy and recommend this book.