A few favorite Bible story books from my resource shelves…
(5 stars) Illustrated Family Bible Stories is published by Parragon Publishing. The stories and Bible passages are paraphased in a way that preserves the fullness of the Bible text yet brings it down to a level that an elementary aged child can read and understand. This is an excellent transition book from the early Bible story books to becoming a lifelong Bible student.
In addition to presenting the Bible accounts accurately, there are ample illustrations and inserts to give additional background information to bring the events to life and provide deeper understanding.
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(5 stars) An excellent easy-to-read Bible story book is The Young Reader’s Bible retold by Bonnie Bruno and Carol Reinsma, and illustrated by Jenifer Schneider. It is published by Standard Publishing.
The pictures are lively and colorful enough to excite children, yet they are realistic enough to imply that they represent real people. The stories are told using simple and easy to read language. Some explanations are over-simplified, due to the restraints of keeping the vocabulary and plot simple enough for very small children to understand. I am impressed with how many details the authors were able to include in the 70 stories that are included in The Young Reader’s Bible.
The first section is named “Who’s Who in the Bible.” It names the main characters in the stories and tells on what pages they appear, much like a table of contents. Children will find this feature very helpful as they look up their favorite Bible stories. There is a simple map of the Old Testament lands and another for the New Testament countries. A short glossary is included along with a time line to help sequence the events of the Bible. I am impressed with the amount of information that is included in this beginner’s Bible written for ages 5-8.
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(4 stars) The Children’s Illustrated Bible: The best-loved stories of the Old and New Testaments, retold by Victoria Parker, consultant Janet Dyson, published by Hermes House. This book is similar to Illustrated Family Bible Stories above, though it appears to be for older readers. The text is very small. The author takes a little more liberty with the text than I like, though the additions are minor. Illustrations are colorful and varied incorporating paintings of earlier centuries as well as more contemporary art styles. Additional information is included to supplement the Biblical accounts.
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