The Best Of Christian Fantasy Books

The Wordsmith, The Kid, and The Electrolux

by: Clifford Leigh

Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 12/21/2009)

I don't know if it's actually possible to explain this story. It's about the fall of man, our corrupt nature, and Jesus' amazing sacrifice. It's written as a boy who gives in to his own selfish desires (ice cream), and how it actually destroys his own life as he becomes a slave to his desire (sneaking about, refusing to participate in his family, cavities). One night, he wakes to find that his parents' vacuum cleaner is alive, and seemingly intelligent. It takes him on a ride, bringing him to a book of his family tree, which is filled with odd, almost living pictures. And then he falls into one. Thus begins his adventure.

Suffice to say that it has all of the strangeness of a story like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and even Pilgrim's Progress. It also teaches its lesson in the same subtle but fantastic method, with the same kind of melancholy feel through out much of the book.

Happily, the message truly gets through, and by seeming so strange, it peaks your curiosity ("I wonder where he's going with this?") and keeps your attention riveted, not only to the story, but also the meaning and message behind the story.

This is not the kind of book that is likely to give a non-believer who wasn't raised in church and "aha!" moment, simply because they won't have the key to unlock the mystery unless the Holy Spirit teaches them. Just as reading the Bible tends to not make sense to someone who doesn't already believe, unless the Holy Spirit is there to guide them. It is, however, an excellent book (just as Pilgrim's Progress, and Hinds Feet In High Places) for the believer who wants to really GET Jesus' sacrifice, and why we need it so much.