How does one go about choosing the appropriate bible for their children? There are the many different published children’s bibles, that it can be difficult to choose the correct one.
When our first daughter was born, we did not own a children’s bible. As I began to search for one, I found it very difficult to know what to look for.
In my search, I realized a few facts:
- not all bibles claim the truth of the Word of God
- some bibles do not include all the main stories
- the content in some bibles are difficult to interpret for kids
- Some bibles do not give enough information on topics
- And the list goes on. . . .
So in my quest, I decided to test out a few bibles and see which one was best. Each one is described and reviewed below.
1. My First Handy Bible: My husband bought this one at his work place. He gets 75% off on books from Moody Publishers as he works for Moody Bible Institute. The final cost was about $2 or $3. It is also on Amazon.com.
Authors: Cecilie Olesen
Age range: 3 and under
The stories are super short as you can see above. The author gives just a simple paraphrase of each. Very few stories, like the story of Joseph, rolls over to the next page. When I first began to read this, I was a little frustrated that the stories were so short. But then I began to realize that is geared toward the age range of the children. Our daughter loved her first little bible.
2. Read with Me Bible: I read reviews on this one on Amazon before purchasing this one. It has5 stars. When I revived it in the mail and opened it and say the photos, I wanted to return it. In fact, I placed a request to return it but Amazon said, I could keep it for my money back because I was a valid customer. Yea! So I did. Glad I kept it after all.
Author: Doris Rikkers
Age range: 2 to 5 years old
The stories are fun to read and the pictures are vibrant and sort of interesting. People rate the images very high on Amazon. In my opinion, they are vibrant but could be a little confusing. Just way to jumbled up! But my 1 year old is kind of drawn to this one. I think she likes the images and some of the funny expressive words from certain stories. For example, in the creation story when it talks about God separating the waters above from the waters below, it has words like blub! blub! blub! In the story of Jonah and the fish, it has words like gulp (the fish swallowed Jonah)!
3. The Jesus Story Book: This one is one of the most recommended that I have seen. I bought it from Amazon.
Author: Sally Lloyd-Jones
Age range: 4 to 8 (My kids are way younger but I wanted to test it out).
Of all three, I would say that the Jesus Story Book explains the stories in a way that seems real. Of course, my kids are not at the ages to understand some words yet, but I still read it sometimes. I tend to alternate between the three bibles depending on what story I want to read and how I want it to be understood. Jumping from one bible to the next may not be the best thing to do but I am still deciding on which one to stick with for a while.
I am keeping in mind that younger kids do not need any huge amount of reading in one setting. They get restless and may not even understand. One or two lines with a simple explanation is sufficient. That is where the first bible mentioned above comes in very handy at times.
4. I know I had a fourth little bible, too. But forgot it on vacation when we went to visit family. I do not remember the title nor do I remember much about the story line, but I remember liking it a lot. It was small, easy to carry around, and the stories were easy.
In summary, I am finding that no matter which bible I read from, as a parent I still have to explain the stories in my own words. If hubby reads, he still has to explain it. To get the perfect bible for a child, a parent may have to get creative and do some serious bible writing:)
If you have children, what is or was your favorite bible to read to them? Or what did you like read to you as a child?
Below are clickable images where these can be purchased.
I love the looks of the My First Bible with the handle for really little ones! My kids had a Golden Kids Bible. It was nice, but way to big to carry around.
Growing up our kids had several. From one (in German) that was more accurate in the story, to one that mainly had just pictures, for total beginners. The main thing is, you read it to them. I really like the book “The Lamb” from GoodSeed. It is not a whole Bible, but explains the core message like no other.
We have so many children’s Bibles, it’s crazy! My favorite toddler Bible story books (not Bible) is by Ella Lindvold also published by Moody Press. There are 4 volumes with 5 stories each. You could look at them in the bookstore.
Thanks for sharing with #SmallVictoriesSunday #linky 9. I will pin and share.
I would love to get some children’s bibles for the home. I admit, I havent introduced the bible to my youngest yet.
It is so important to start teaching them while they are young. They may not understand it all, but they will get something from it.
My children are grown but we always had lots of Bibles. We are KJV folks and like you, need for the most important stories to be present. It is important to read those stories to the children when they are very young.
I love KJV, too! However, I find it hard to teach the children from the adult version of it. I believe the children’s bibles I have were written from the KJV.