Book Review: Arlo and the Great Big Cover-Up by Betsy Childs Howard
Lois Yong shares how this book has been useful to apply the gospel to a particular lesson and situation that parents and children will encounter — the sin of lying. She shares how it does not just talk about the pitfalls of lying, but also models how the gospel can be applied to this situation and obeyed.
Children’s storybooks have a way of teaching a lesson simply, sometimes on a truth found in the Bible, in ways that grownup books cannot do so easily. Betsy Howard chose Proverbs 28:13 for the epigraph of the book, which says “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” This book is not just about the pitfalls of lying (“will not prosper”). It brings the gospel to light (“will obtain mercy”) and that is why I find this storybook to be a real treasure in our family’s library.
A cover-up is an attempt to prevent people from discovering the truth. In this children’s storybook, a little boy named Arlo is the one having something to hide from his mother – his drawing on his bedroom wall. That was not his first boo boo though. The whole saga started when Arlo got out of bed during nap time to add some marker strokes to what he thought was a smile on the wall. Getting out of bed was something his mum had told him not to do. Due to his disobedience of his mum’s instructions, he felt the need to cover up repeatedly, first by drawing more (to make it look more like an artwork than a vandal act), followed by piling up all his toys to cover that portion of the doodled wall. It seems that the cover up is fine until the sin is too big to be hidden and all comes bursting out of its seams. Yet, Howard has cleverly shown that even when the cover-up is blown, the sin can still be hidden – Arlo still lied with his lips.
This reminded me of the story of David covering up his sin of adultery with Bathsheba layer by layer (you can read it up in 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25). It was not until he was called out by the prophet Nathan, did his sin come to light and David did confess openly “I have sinned against the LORD.” (2 Sam 12:13) Even then, there were heavy consequences to be felt. In Arlo and the Great Big Cover-Up, Howard did well by ending the story first with Arlo’s mum confronting Arlo with his sin followed by a confession by Arlo himself. There was a resolution (removal of drawing from the wall with a magic sponge), but not without Arlo’s mum meting out a consequence for Arlo’s disobedience. I particularly loved how gentle Arlo’s mum was in her approach toward Arlo’s sin. Then, however hard it must have been, there was forgiveness. I was reminded of how I need to handle the sins of my 3 boys with due care and gentleness, with mercy and forgiveness, as I am as sinful as they are, and we all need our Saviour Jesus.
The topic of lying is not an easy one to talk about, especially because it is about covering up one’s sin and definitely not something we would like to expose. Many children’s books that start off well in intent to teach a value like honesty in the Bible, end up stopping short at the dos and don’ts and with concluding applications such as ‘be honest’. That is not what the gospel is about! The gospel is good news, the best news ever, that even when we have sinned against God, those who put their faith in Jesus to pay the penalty of their sin, can be redeemed by His blood and freed from being a slave to sin to become a slave of Christ. That freedom in Christ allows us to choose obedience to God, in this case, to choose to stop lying. Arlo and the Great Big Cover-Up helps to peel back the layers one by one, to teach us not just to stop lying, but that Jesus can forgive and cover over a terrible sin like lying (Ps 32:1).
That is the beauty of the gospel, as there is no need to hide from God because He can and will cover over the sins of those who put their trust in Him. In summary, this delightful storybook is an easy read and has brought joy to our family as we read this together during bedtime. God’s unrelenting love for us is the same as to David in Psalm 51:17 — “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”