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.
I’ve seen The Jesus Storybook Bible recommended a lot lately. My children are too old for it, but I think I’ll stock up on a few for baby gifts. Thanks for the review
I hadn’t heard of the Jesus Storybook Bible yet, so I’m glad you wrote about it. We also have the Big Picture Story Bible.
Thanks for the reviews.
Thanks for writing on this. I’m thinking we’re going to have to purchase your reccomendation.
Wow, that sounds so wonderful! It’s rare to get that perspective in adult books, much less children’s books. Thanks for the test drives!
The Jesus Storybook Bible is a huge hit here too. Per your recommendation, Kristen, I bought it, and my dear little Isaac insists on reading David and Goliath every time I pick it up. I figure that God has something to tell mommy in hearing that story. Yesterday we found a pool “sling shot” in the dollar bin, and Isaac bellowed “Only a Boy Named David” up and down the aisles at Target.
Anyway, we LOVE that book. I need to sit down and read the other stories by myself sometime too. Thanks for your recommendation.
Oh man, I am so excited to read your reviews! Thanks for sharing.
I hate our Children’s Bible so much it pains me to read it, and I’m constantly revising. I just never knew of a better option so I never got a better one. Now I’m all excited to get the Jesus Story book one. I think I’ll get it right now. *Grin*
I keep hearing about the Jesus Storybook Bible– have got to get my hands on a copy.
We often used the Read with Me Bible when I was directing Sunday School for Pre-K. I wasn’t wild about the illustrations, but I liked the direct style and that it included stories you won’t find in other children’s editions.
My favorite (and the kids’ favorite, by far) was the Read Aloud Bible Stories series. Just wish they weren’t so expensive.
Thanks for the review! Are any of these especially accessible by early readers? I know the Vos one isn’t. . .
The Big Picture Story Bible is probably the easiest for early readers by a little bit, but the Jesus Storybook Bible is far more accessible than Vos… The BPSB and JSB are not that far apart. It would be interesting to see the official reading level statistics.
We have the Big Picture Story Bible, and R8 and T9 take turns reading that aloud to C6. I was wondering especially about the JSB. . .
We have the Read with Me Bible- Coleman likes it pretty well and I find it easy to use with Kid’s slot during our midweek kid’s study. I am ordering your #1 recommendation because it just sounds GREAT!
I like the Big Picture Story Bible for it’s theological aim as well. But I sometimes wish for more concrete stories for my 3 year old. We also just received The Beginner’s Bible (ZonderKidz) but I haven’t gotten into it enough to know if I like it yet.
I’ll have to check out the Jesus Storybook Bible soon. Thanks for the rec, Kristen!
Oh excellent! I went right out and bought the Jesus Storybook Bible and I am so excited to start reading it with my little ones.
Everyone who has children or who works with children needs the Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos. Heck, every adult needs it! Libby Miller at Camp Greystone has taught from it every summer for lo these many years, and she says she thinks every adult should read through it to get the sense of the sweep of redemptive history.
A children’s Bible story book with pictures by Richard and Frances Hook is worth owning, just because they are wonderful illustrations.
Well this book has been put to great use so far. My 2 year old loves this “Bible book” and after we read it at night he wants to keep it on his pillow.:-D
It is so nifty how it tells Bible stories in simple, easy to understand language and every story does indeed point to Christ. Part of me thinks, “Oh, I should just be able to read the real Bible and paraphrase into stories for my kids.” but I am not that good at it and one thing that I have struggled with is finding the point, the parallels in many Old Testament stories. I mean, there is always good ol’ Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the Big Fish but I’m always left with the feeling that I just read my child another animal story that doesn’t really mean much. (They do, of course, but I find myself searching and stammering for ways to make God real in those stories when telling them to Malachi.) This book will be a great help to me in finding and sharing those, “Aha!” moments…the illustrations and “clues” as to what God had planned for His people from the start. For example, I just read the Abraham and Isaac story and it tells/illustrates Isaac walking with a bundle of wood on his back. At the end of the story it tells how many years later another man would walk a hill with wood on His back to obey His Father. Isn’t that neat? Oh, I’m probably dense but while I knew the story of Abraham and Isaac was a foreshadow of Christ’s sacrifice I just hadn’t thought about the neat little parallels.
Hey- we got ours and LOVE it. Half my church is buying one as well. Just wanted everyone to know that they will be 1/2 off at Lifeway next week (august 4-11th) making them $8.49 each. That’s a lot cheaper than Amazon.