November 30, 2015

Faith Builders Bible for children and new readers


Unlike a Bible storybook, the Faith Builders Bible for children and new readers includes the full text of the reader-friendly, New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) – a translation based on the NIV, but with new readers and elementary school-aged children especially in mind. For example, the beloved 23rd Psalm begins:

“1 The LORD is my shepherd. He gives
me everything I need.
2 He lets me lie down in fields of
green grass.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths
for the honor of his name.”


You’ll find that kind of clarity throughout this edition published by Zondervan, who kindly sent me a copy to review.

The readable text works well as do the illustrations, which will appeal to children who enjoy Legos or Minecraft, neither of which has any connection to this unique edition. For generations, though, children of all ages have played with building blocks, and so, undoubtedly, the publisher played with that idea to connect Bible reading with activities having child-appeal. And it works!

For instance, the opening two-page spread in the front matter shows “Building With Books Of The Bible” by stacking titles of those individual books above their particular category. Beginning with the Torah titles above the category “Law” and ending with “Revelation” above the category of prophecy, readers can see how the Bible comes together as one structure with many parts.

In the back matter, a “Dictionary to the New International Reader’s Version” helps to build vocabulary heard at home, church, or church school. For example:

“anoint 1. To pour olive oil on people or things. This sets them apart for God. 2. To pour oil on people as part of praying for their healing.”

The back of the book also lists “Great Bible Stories” by topic and the book, chapter, and verse(s) where they can be located, but the addition of page numbers might have helped readers who aren’t yet familiar with the Bible.

I also would have liked a larger font for younger readers and a page in the front or back listing the titles of illustrations and their page numbers. For example the illustration and story “Noah Builds An Ark” has been inserted between pages 120 and 121.

That building-block drawing helps children to envision the scene and, perhaps, inspires them to build an ark of blocks. More importantly, that illustrative page, like others in the book, gives a brief version of the story with reference to the chapters where the full account can be found before ending with a character-building “Building Block Verse:”

“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Genesis 6:22”


The text on those pages has a larger, readable font, which encourages new readers to read the stories themselves. In addition, the pages provide a Bible storybook within the Bible, giving children and new readers the opportunity to read more when they’re ready.

©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer, is a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the Church in all its parts.

Faith Builders Bible, hardback




November 20, 2015

NLT Illustrated Study Bible

My first impression of the NLT Illustrated Study Bible, which Tyndale House Publishers kindly sent me to review, was its heft!

Then, looking at the outer edges of the book reminded me of striations in cut rock, colorfully telling what’s gone on prior to its discovery. Similarly, layers of color along those outside edges hint at the wealth of photographs and original illustrations included in this sturdy study edition.

The magnitude of features undoubtedly required keeping page bulk to a minimum. Nevertheless, I regretted seeing the thinness of the paper, which seemed even thinner after feeling the thick, slick book jacket and the canvas-like cover sheets at the beginning and end of the book. An option would have been to cut some of the 1,000+ images in favor of a denser quality paper, but then we would no longer have all of the amazing visuals that help us to open our eyes more fully to God’s Word.

Indeed, the website http://openmyeyes.com/bible/ provides a video to introduce this edition and establish its primary goal as helping us to see aspects of the Bible that might, otherwise, go unnoticed.

To do this, the book includes the kind of helps we generally find in a Bible dictionary – for instance, profiles of 120 Bible characters – and the kinds of color photographs we expect in a Bible atlas. The overall effect is to show us what Bible people, places, and times were like, so we can picture ourselves as part of the scene and relate to the ongoing relationship God wants to have with us and all mankind.

In addition to the stunning visuals in this heavily illustrated study Bible, we also get over 25,000 notes to accompany the updated text of the New Living Translation (NLT), which remains one of my top favorites.

Highly readable and poetic, the NLT translates ancient manuscripts into a contemporary, respectful English version that’s easy to follow in a worship service or in a Bible study group when other people read aloud from almost any classical or modern translation. Even at home alone, however, this edition makes the Bible remarkably accessible to new readers and also visually inspiring to those of us who have loved the Bible throughout our reading lives.

© 2015, Mary Harwell Sayler, Bible reviewer, is a poet-writer of numerous books in all genres for Christian and educational publishers. She also blogs about prayer, poetry, and writing and has posting some of her Praise Poems.


NLT Illustrated Study Bible, hardcover




November 13, 2015

NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance


The third edition of The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance (NIVEBC), which Zondervan kindly sent me to review, is not only a hefty volume but, according to the hardback cover, “The only exhaustive index to every word in the NIV.”

Does that matter? I think so, and apparently Editor John R. Kohlenberger III did too.

As he says in the Introduction, “Like Strong’s (Bible concordance, the NIVEBC) is truly exhaustive, indexing even the most frequent articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns in their own special section.” Besides its own unique numbering system, the NIVEBC “has three separate indexes – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – that list every word in the original-language texts and every word and phrase used to translate them in the NIV. Thus the NIVEBC combines the best features of Young’s and Strong’s concordances.”

Such information assures me that, unlike the concordances in the back of many Bibles, this extensive volume will have all of the scriptures I want to find for a particular topic, rather than ones an editor or committee think have the most biblical value.

For instance, in writing a poem on how God “let it be” in the beginning, I wanted to see what else the Bible says God, Jesus, or someone else “let” occur. Looking for that word in the NIVEBC, I found over 10 columns of verses that show something has been permitted, allowed, or called into being. Since the type font is rather small, that’s a lot of lets!

Following the A-Z entries is a section of the “Numerals” found in the Bible, but this confused me as I looked for the ever-popular 1, 3, and 7 and found 0! Flipping back to the A to Z, the letter O brought forth columns of scriptures including “one,” but it would have been helpful to have that number listed in the numerical section, too, with a note directing readers to the main entry. Ditto for 3 and 7, each of which require two or more columns to list all of their biblical references.

After the numbers comes over fifty pages for the “Index of Articles” followed by many more pages for the “Hebrew to English Dictionary Index,” a thinner “Aramaic to English Dictionary-Index,” and over 75 pages for the “Greek to English Dictionary-Index.” Since key words have been assigned numbers, the “Numbering System Indexes” relate those words to systems by Strong, Goodrick, and Kohlenberger.

The big number for the NIVEBC, however, is fifty! In 1965, the NIV was commissioned and translation began, making the current year a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of this perennially best-selling Bible. Congratulations, Zondervan!


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer, is a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the Church in all its parts. She felt let to write Praise Poems, which eventually led to a book.


The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance, hardback




November 4, 2015

My First Message Bible Search: Discovering Answers in God's Word


Instead of a Bible storybook, The My First Message Bible Search: Discovering Answers in God's Word by Jon Nappa brings, as the sturdy cover states, “Guidance for 40 real life situations” that children six to ten are likely to encounter.

Published by NavPress, who kindly sent me a free copy for my review, this hardback book has slick pages, colorful artwork, and a lively layout to encourage children to interact with God’s Word.

Although the book includes verses from The Message in each section, the Introduction tells young readers, “…we want you to use this book with your Bible. This book will show you how to find help in your Bible for lots of the things you’ll deal with as you grow up. It’ll help you figure out what some grown-up words mean too,” particularly through the kid-friendly concordance and dictionary within the pages.

For example, the two-page Concordance shows topics such as these:

When I’m Discouraged
When I Feel Sad
When I Say Things I Shouldn’t
When I Get Really Mad
When I Get Stressed
When I’m Afraid
When I Don’t Want to Help Others
When I Make Excuses
When I Don’t Know What to Do


Besides addressing very real situations faced by most children of elementary school age, a two-page layout for each topic provides “Bible Help for Daily Experiences.”

For example, the double-page spread for “When I Don’t Want to Obey,” asks “Are you trying to be the boss?” followed by a brief discussion then closing with the Bible verse in Deuteronomy 7:9, “It’s good to obey God.”

Various perspectives presented in colorful columns help children to get real with themselves about themselves before going to the adjacent page where they’re asked to look up a key verse in the Bible then write what they think it said in the lined spaces provided.

Similar interactions are encouraged in the Bible Dictionary portion of the book where readers learn more about abstract ideas and words they hear at home, church, or school but don’t always have explained to them! Some of these discuss:

What The Bible Is All About
What Character Is All About
What Church Is All About
What Courage Is All About
What Eternal Life Is All About
What Friendship Is All About
What Trust Is All About
What Truth Is All About

For example, the Bible Dictionary page on “What Forgiveness Is All About,” explains it like this:

“Has someone ever owned you something? When you forgive, it’s like saying that person doesn’t owe you anything anymore. You don’t hold anything against them. God gives us forgiveness and doesn’t ask for anything in return. It’s free. All you have to do is ask for it. You can give forgiveness to others too.”

The text then headlines, “Look at what the Bible has to say about forgiveness,” with several Bible verses followed by these suggestions:

“Get a pencil and a piece of paper. Write down the things you’d like God to forgive you for. They can be little or big things. Then talk to God and ask him to forgive you. Erase each of the things on your list. That’s what God does when you ask for forgiveness.”

What a blessing for children and people of all ages to know: God does not use permanent markers against us!


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer, is a poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the Church in all its parts.


The My First Message Bible Search: Discovering Answers in God's Word, hardback