The Story Behind Dr. Blueberry
One Parent’s Determination to Find Captivating Bible Stories for her Children
MEET DR. BLUEBERRY
FOUNDER OF FAITH CENTERED MEDIA
Dr. Kimberly Thornbury
Dr. Blueberry was created out of inspiration to retell the works of Ethel Barrett.
Faith Centered Media began with Dr. Kimberly Thornbury's desire to teach the Bible to her two young girls. While some devotional resources were a hit, most materials for kids failed to hold their attention. That was until she rediscovered Ethel Barrett's treasure trove of stories.
“When I was a mother with small children, I tried many devotional books for family devotions. Some books were instant hits (e.g. “The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally Lloyd Jones) while other stories failed to grab my girls' attention.”
She then remembered these (now out-of-print) stories written by a gifted communicator to children -- Ethel Barrett. She had listened to Barrett’s stories on record when she was a small girl. Scouring the internet, she bought dozens of her books from used book websites. As she began to read a few pages a night, her daughters said they did not want her to stop. Every Bible story ended on a cliff hanger, leaving the girls wanting more. Ethel Barrett retells Bible stories in such a way that her girls actually asked for nightly devotions.
ETHEL BARRETT’S LEGACY
Ethel barrett was a Christian writer, speaker, and storyteller, whose popularity peaked between the early 1950s and the mid-1980s.
Ethel Barrett (1913-1998)
Ethel Barrett wrote over 40 books published by Zondervan, Gospel Light, and Regal Books. Her Biblical Character books include Abraham, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, David, Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, Moses, Ruth, Peter, Paul, and the early church.
She began her career as a Sunday School teacher for sixth grade boys.
Surprised at how rowdy they were and uninterested in the “standard” Sunday School curriculum, she determined to find the best way to communicate Biblical stories.
Ms. Barrett was motivated by the belief that Scripture was not boring. Her re-telling of these stories is incredibly effective.
It has been over 30 years since any of her works have been republished, leaving generations of children without these wonderful resources.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
I am most grateful to her grandchildren Mike and Sean Barrett, for allowing me permission to retell her stories. The gifted Cameron S, with his incredible creative mind, turned her books into our screenplay as well as the team at Failure Island who filmed, produced, and edited all episodes.
I hope that your family enjoys each episode. If you like the stories, donations to Faith Centered Media will help us fund future projects by Ethel Barrett.
Thank you for stopping by!
Dr. Kimberly Thornbury
Faith Centered Media seeks to provide faith based educational resources. The first initiative of Faith Centered Media, Dr. Blueberry's House, provides online video episodes of Biblical characters to be used for teaching, study and worship.