Summer is here, and we are all about encouraging kids to read over the summer. Marty Machowski’s The Redemption Tales offers a creative presentation of the gospel message by inviting middle-grade readers (ages 8–12) to join the fictional animals who could have been present at the biggest events of the Bible.
The fourth book in the series, The Death and the Victory, invites readers to join the fictional animals who could have witnessed Jesus’s last days on Earth and other events of the New Testament. Join the jerboas at the cross, horses at Christ’s empty tomb, leopards watching Jesus ascend to heaven, turtledoves at Pentecost, squirrels who follow Saul to Damascus, and many animals on the island of Patmos with John.
The story begins in the Garden of Gethsemane, where something wasn’t quite right in the darkness. Jerboa sisters Nava and Shamira could smell the stench of the serpents even though they couldn’t see them. And why were the rabbi and the fishermen here so late? They seemed to be speaking in code when hundreds of Roman soldiers suddenly appeared. In all the commotion, the soldiers took the one they called Jesus of Nazareth away. . .
On the rocky hill the young jerboas watched as the one they called the king hung on the cross, dying. Suddenly, the earth began to tremble, then rumble, then quake. Rocks split and tombs broke open. The dove told them, “They will take Jesus’s body and lay him in a tomb. The serpents think they’ve won a victory, but on the third day Jesus will rise, just as he said. The serpents don’t realize that darkness has already been defeated and soon Jesus will appear—alive!”
We hope you enjoy this preview from the first chapter of The Death and the Victory.
The Kiss of the Serpent
It was a quiet night in the Kidron Valley. The brook, which ran strong during the winter, was almost dry, with only an occasional puddle between the rocks. Above the city walls, the temple stood like a watchman over the valley. Few were aware of the Pharisees’ dark plot, soon to unfold in their midst.
In the darkness, two young jerboas left the safety of their burrow to play along the brook and catch bugs. Being creatures of the night, they ate their breakfast while most city people readied for bed.
“Keep an eye on your sister and watch out for vipers,” called their mother, Jacoba, to her older daughter, Shamira.
“Don’t worry, Mom,” Shamira replied. “I’m on it!”
Nava quickly inserted, “I can take care of myself! Besides, we’re just catching bugs.”
Overhearing their chatter, Jacoba warned, “You must always watch out for the serpent, for his is the kiss of death! Keep your ears forward, eyes open, and feet ready to fly.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Nava replied. “I’ll remember.”
“The Creator protect you,” she called out as the two young jerboas jumped along the creek bed.
One might find it strange that Jacoba would allow her children out at night with vipers on the prowl. But jerboas can take care of themselves. With nocturnal eyes, they can see a serpent in the blackest night. With keen noses, they can pick up the scent of a serpent from twenty feet. With large ears like a rabbit, they can hear the slither of a snake on the hunt. And best of all, their powerful hind legs and hefty kangaroo-like tails allow them to jump ten feet in one bound.
Shamira looked at her sister and asked, “Did you know that our hillside is famous?”
“Famous for what?” asked Nava.
“The Kidron brook once ran strong from the spring of Gihon—that is, until King Hezekiah dug his tunnel to keep the water from the Assyrian army.”
“Wait! You mean the Assyrian army marched here and camped on our land?”
“Yup, the Assyrian army covered the land around the city. But that’s not all. This hillside is also a place of betrayal. King David crossed this very brook when he was betrayed by his son Absalom, and forced to flee the city.”
“Did Mom tell you all this?” Nava asked her sister.
“No, I met a dove here one morning. He told me,” Shamira said.”
Nava scanned the landscape from left to right and back again with her ears tall and her eyes focused. “Enough talking. Can we go spy?”
“Yes, we can! Pad carefully on the earth and rocks; step over the sticks. Keep those keen ears of yours open. We want to discover the serpents before they feel our heat. Keep your nose in the air. And remember, a keen eye can pick up movement long before you know what is moving.”
The two jerboas jumped from rock to rock down the river-bank as if playing a game of hopscotch. They enjoyed their nighttime jaunts—but only on full alert.
“Serpent!” Shamira exclaimed. “I smell it coming from the rocks below.”
Nava turned her ears forward. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Right there!” Shamira whispered. But when the two jer-boas looked closer, they saw only a coil of shed snakeskin on the ground.
“Let’s get a closer look,” said Nava.
“No, the snake is still close at hand. Their shed skin doesn’t stink. Let’s get out of here. The vipers are active tonight. Remember what Mom said, ‘the kiss of the serpent is death,’” Shamira warned. Then she jumped over the brook and up to the garden, where they would find plenty of bugs for their meal. Nava followed.
The olive trees, with their subtle woody scent, grew thick in the garden. They were a welcome change from the pungent odor of the vipers.
Shamira inhaled deeply and smiled. “I’ll trade the stench of serpent for the bouquet of olive trees any day.”
“Shamira!” Nava whispered urgently, ears forward. “There are men further ahead. I can hear them talking. I think it’s that rabbi Jesus and his disciples. Sometimes they come to the garden at night to pray.”
“Let’s get a closer look,” said Shamira. “Time to spy!”
With that, the jerboas began their stealth mission. The game was on.
The sisters had come across this same band of men before on their nighttime adventures. As they drew closer, Sham-ira confirmed their identity with one sniff. “Fishermen,” she said. “It’s them alright.” The disciples were the only fisher-men the two jerboas ever knew to visit the garden after dark.
As they closed in on the company, Shamira whispered, “Good work, Nava. I can always count on your keen ears.”
They crept closer until they could hear what Jesus was saying to his disciples: “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Then a disciple they knew to be Peter said, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”
Jesus replied, “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
“Truly, I tell you,” said Jesus, “this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
“This doesn’t sound good,” whispered Shamira. “The rabbi seems to speak in code—‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter?’ What in the world does that mean? And, ‘After I’m raised up I’ll go before you?’ I can’t make sense of it.”
“Well, don’t look at me. You got all the brains in the burrow,” Nava replied.
“Perhaps I could be of help,” a voice sounded from above. Nava jumped four feet to the left and hid. Shamira dove under a boulder.
“It’s ok,” the voice called out. “I’m a friend.”
Excerpted from The Death and the Victory © 2025 by Marty Machowski. Used with permission of New Growth Press. May not be reproduced without prior written permission.
You can also read excerpts of chapter 1 from each of the first three books in the Redemption Tales series at the links below.
The Light and the Life
The Light and the Life by bestselling author Marty Machowski follows the adventures of the animals who could have witnessed the events of Jesus’s life. Join the lamb and wolf as they head to Bethlehem, lizards living in the temple, camels traveling with the wise men, turtles in the Sea of Galilee, hyrax at the Mount of Transfiguration, squirrels at Lazarus’s tomb, and the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
