Lee Child, one among the world’s biggest-selling crime novelists, has revealed that a Bible picture book had a serious impact on his writing – and that his popular fictional hero Jack Reacher relies on Goliath.
Child – who has sold greater than 100 million books worldwide – told a radio interviewer that he got here across the Old Testament story of David and Goliath in a kid’s scripture book when he was around 4 years old.
Speaking to the BBC’s John Wilson, British-born Child described the deep impact on him of ‘The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem,’ one among a series produced by UK publisher Ladybird Books within the Fifties.
Child recalled: “I loved the photographs and I read the story. But Goliath was my favourite. I might read the book over and all over again, day by day, hoping that someday Goliath would win!
“Afterwards I realised, I liked the massive guy slightly than the little guy. I do not like the underdog apparently. In my head, Goliath would win – though he never did on the page, and the story never modified.”
Child admitted “Jack Reacher is Goliath. My whole premise for the Reacher books is ‘Can Goliath be the nice guy – and might we discover a way of creating readers fearful about him.'”
Reacher, a fictional hero in Child’s books, is a former military policeman, strong and tall, and fearless as a fighter.
Child’s revelation is further evidence of the foremost impact of the Ladybird Books, published between the Fifties and Seventies and browse of their thousands and thousands by children all over the world.
The book read by Child has been confirmed as ‘The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem,’ published in 1953, with illustrations by Kenneth Inns, and written by Lucy Diamond.
That slim volume now stands revealed as having a serious influence on popular crime fiction within the twenty first century.
Religious titles were among the many wide selection of books published by Ladybird that were popular with children and their families, and widely utilized in primary schools and churches.
Some can still be present in church libraries today, with many older readers maintaining a deep affection for the books that first introduced them to Bible stories.
Helen Day, curator of ‘The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Artists’ exhibition, is a keen collector and historian of the books, and has taken her exhibition to a series of UK cities.
She explained, “The heyday of Ladybird will likely be said to be the ‘golden years’ between 1950 and the early Seventies.
“They were hugely influential in kid’s lives – especially within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s – when Ladybird was well established as a publisher for kids and the market was less competitive. Right from the beginning, the mixture of the small size, hard cover, abundant full-colour illustrations, consistent format and prime quality made them appealing each to children and adults.”
Day added, “Religious books were among the many earlier titles to be published – starting in 1952. They will need to have sold in vast numbers judging by the variety of existing copies.
“It’s extremely common to search out a bookplate within the front of the religious books, explaining the title in query had been a prize for varsity attendance or success.”
The first title within the Scripture series was published in 1952. ‘The Child within the Temple’, a retelling of the Bible story of Samuel, was written by Lucy Diamond with illustrations by Kenneth Inns.
Sadly, although much is understood in regards to the illustrators of the religious titles, there may be little information in regards to the writers, whose words introduced a generation to Bible stories and the lifetime of Jesus.
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK, a former communications director with the CofE and a collector of Ladybird Books religious titles.
