The Biggest Story Bible Storybook

 

Published by Crossway, who kindly sent me a copy to review, TheBiggest Story Bible Storybook is loaded with colorful artwork by Don Clark and kid-friendly Bible stories retold by Kevin DeYoung.

Immediate orders might make it in time for Easter, but these timeless stories bless readers anytime, especially because they show the connection of the biblical books with Jesus. As the Introduction says:

“The Bible is filled with many stories – some sad and some scary, some happy and some holy…. But ultimately there is one story. And it’s a true story right down to the smallest details. The one story is the Biggest Story, and it’s all about Jesus.”

“Jesus is the one that the Old Testament foretold….”

“Jesus is the one that the New Testament makes clear is the Messiah…. the Son of God…. the Son of Man…. the exalted Lord…. the Word made flesh…. the heir of all things…. our God and Savior….”

“He is the theme. He is the goal. He is the good news.”

Divided into seven parts, the first one – the Pentateuch – covers stories in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Part 2: History touches on the major stories from Joshua through Esther. Part 3: Poetry briefly highlights Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, and Part 4 provides a peek into The Prophets.

Almost half of the book is devoted to stories from the New Testament -The Gospels, the Acts and Epistles, and Revelation. One of the most important is taken from Luke 25, “Jesus Lives,” which takes us through the first holy week, from Good Friday through Easter – the week where we are now!

“Jesus knew he was going to die and that he wouldn’t stay dead.

“Friday was dark and sad. Saturday was stone-cold silent. But Sunday – the third day – was not just another day or another week. It was another age. A new time had begun. The Biggest Story had turned a page. The world would never be the same.”

This story never ends! But the retelling concludes, as each of the stories does, with a prayer:

“We thank you, God, for the resurrection and the new life we have in Jesus. Amen.”

May God bless your Holy Week and your continued reading of God’s Word.

 

©2022, Mary Harwell Sayler

 

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The Gift of Easter

On that first Easter Sunday, Jesus the Christ – Jesus our Savior – overcame death. He left the tomb, somewhat like a newborn chick opening a shell, newly clothed in light and life.

Those metaphors can help children catch a glimpse of the meaning of Christ’s resurrection, but soon the Easter eggs will be gone and new clothes outgrown, while The Word of God remains forever.

God gave His Word to us in Jesus, His Son, Who fulfilled every prophecy and promise in the Bible. May these and other Bibles or Bible storybooks bring God’s Word to young people this Easter.

Adventure Bible for Early Readers

Adventure Bible Storybook

Just Like Jesus Bible Storybook

NIV Teen Study Bible

The Rhyme Bible Storybook

The Sweetest Story Bible

 

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2021, the Book of Bible Prayers and Kneeling on the Promises of God 

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5-Minute Nighttime Bible Stories

The 5-Minute Nighttime Bible Stories retold by Charlotte Thoroe and illustrated by Gil Guile makes a good choice for bedtime reading with young children. Published by Tommy Nelson, the appealing artwork catches the attention of little ones, while the large font encourages elementary school child to read along and learn new words. In addition, I appreciate the capitalization of pronouns referring to God.

In the Genesis opening, for example:

“God spoke and whatever He said, it happened.”

The next page invites children to count the animals shown on that page as does the story of Noah. The cheery illustrations and interactive questions help to hold a squirmy child’s attention. Sometimes, though, that same question might cause confusion. For example, posing it with the story of Jesus’ birth could give the impression of an exact animal head count around the manger.

Another type of interaction occurs with a prayer such as the one relating well to the last page of the Noah story:

“Dear God, thank You for all of the wonderful animals and for always keeping Your promises.”

A sidebar with the story of Moses and Pharoah asks what happened to Aaron’s staff, while the next page lists the plagues with a prayer thanking God for taking care of His people.

All Bible storybooks don’t include the Ten Commandments, so I was glad to see this one did in child-friendly language. However, I wish this and other Bible storybooks would omit David’s killing Goliath and talk instead about his tending sheep or writing many of the poems known as Psalms.

In the New Testament stories, the interactive question: “How many disciples did Jesus have?” probably refers to the twelve men He had just chosen as apostles who would be sent out in His name, whereas the disciples or followers of that time and now are countless.

My favorite story in the book will surely be the favorite of young readers, too, as they read “Jesus Loves Children.” At the end of that story, bold letters acclaim, “Jesus always had time for children.” Amen!

Finally, the back matter of this sturdy book, which I kindly received for my honest-as-always review, gives children easy-access to find and memorize:

The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)
The Ten Commandments (included earlier too)
Psalm 23 (with a word about David and the Psalms)
Books of the Bible (Old Testament and New)
Song About Jesus (“Jesus Loves Me”)

Mary Sayler, poet, writer, and reviewer, ©2016

5-Minute Nighttime Bible Stories, padded hardback



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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



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Sweetest Story Bible for Toddlers

As a fan of Diane Stortz, I would recommend her work even if I hadn’t received a free review copy of The Sweetest Story Bible for Toddlers, published by Zonderkidz and kindly sent to me by BookLook Bloggers. Diane’s writing helps children to understand deep truths with minimal explanations on the part of parents, and she’s accurate and poetic too.

Artist Sheila Bailey also does a nice job, creating colorful kid-appealing illustrations, which help to expand the text with one exception. In the drawing of two angels announcing Christ's resurrection, both look, well, depressed, which made no sense to me as I suspect they were rather ecstatic.

Other reviews have already mentioned how this Bible storybook from Zonderkidz is ideal for little girls, and I agree but frankly would have preferred it to include little boys as the title does. But, since the emphasis is on little girls, I, too, wished the story of Esther had been omitted and substituted with one showing Ruth’s love for Naomi. For one thing, little kids can relate to a loving friendship more than bad law-making. Besides, I don’t think young children will have a clue about who a Jewish person is.

Giving this more thought, however, I realized that Bible stories for preschoolers seldom mention the Jews – the very people of God from whom we received the Hebrew Testament and from whom our Lord and Savior comes, which then made me glad about the decision to include Esther.

Whether we communicate bigotry or love, children learn early. So I’m now thinking that special editions of the Bible and storybooks for toddlers, preschoolers, early readers, teens, and beyond will do well to emphasize our Jewish heritage as Christians and as ongoing lovers of God’s Word.


©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, poet, writer, and reviewer, is a lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church in all its parts.


The Sweetest Story Bible for Toddlers, padded hardback with board pages




I received my review copy from BookLook Bloggers



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