Here are the children’s story Bibles we have and my opinion of them, in the order we acquired them.
The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos is solidly reformed and a classic. However, it’s very texty and the illustrations aren’t my favorite. I think we’ll grow into it, but for now, it just doesn’t get used.
The Read with Me NIrV Story Bible published by Zondervan was a gift for Kate’s second birthday. It has colorful, interesting illustrations of the comic style, and it’s main advantage is that it has over 100 stories and has the most raw content as far as bible stories go. We tend to use the pictures as springboards to our own discussions, which has worked well.
The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm has elegant illustrations and is well done, overall. It’s very large, which gives it a sense of gravitas, and probably helps if you are reading to many children at once. The content is simple, but theologically sound. My beef with it? It covers only 26 stories and just doesn’t seem like enough.
The winner? The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I love every aspect of this Bible. The illustrations by Jago are both charming and intriguing. There are about fifty stories, a good balance. The text itself is exactly what I want my children to hear, theologically. I love this line from the very first chapter. “The Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done.” AMEN.
The subtitle is “Every Story Whispers His Name” and indeed, every story does. “No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story… You see, the best thing about this Story is — it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.”
She goes on to say that the center of the story is a baby who is like the missing piece to a puzzle that makes all the other pieces fit together, and to reveal the beautiful picture. She stays true to this aim, pointing to Christ with every story, helping children to see the whispers of redemption through it all. If you buy just one Children’s Story Bible, I’d commend this one to you.
