This week, I'm busy writing a message for Father's Day called "Parenting with Purpose". In it, I'm giving some Bible-based tips on how you can inject your faith into your home life. Taking a break from that message (ok, maybe I'm procrastinating), I wanted to share a few great Bibles that you could read with your kids. These are the ones that we've test-driven in our house. Take some time every day to look into God's Word together at home! We typically read one regular story and one Bible story every night before our kids go to bed and have found it to be a valuable part of our daily routine. Because my oldest is six, I don't have as many Bible recommendations for older kids. If you happen to have a recommendation of something you and your kids love, let me know in the comments!
FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS
The Baby Bible (by David C Cook Publishing)
We wore through this set with our kids! Each of these board books has a different theme (ABCs, 123s, Animals, Stories About Jesus...) with colourful pictures and a simplified Bible story (including actions). If you are ordering these books online, just be aware that there isn't much of a difference between the Boys and Girls versions aside from the colour of the covers. Here's an example of the Animals book in a PDF (My personal favorite).
Lift The Flap Bible (by Sally Lloyd Jones)
Lift the flap books are a kids favourite (The Little People series being quite awesome), but this is the Bible with flaps that my kids enjoyed the most. The artwork is great and the flaps help animate the Bible stories quite well (for example, I loved how the flaps in the story of Exodus shows the Egyptian army getting closer and the waters parting). Here's an online sample of this book.
Little People: Noah and the Animals
I've spent quite a bit of time searching for great "lift the flaps" books, and none can compare to the Little People series. This version of "Noah and the Animals" is a lot of fun, encouraging kids to find hidden animals or objects throughout the story. The pages are colorful and huge. Of course, like most renditions of Noah's Ark, it doesn't highlight the reason why God flooded the earth in the first place, but it's a great read for babies and toddlers. Here's an online sample of this book.
Candle Bible for Toddlers
This is a great one for toddlers and kids in kindergarten. The pages are fun and colorful and the Bible stories are short and simplified which I like a lot better than the Bibles that just contain excerpts direct from the NLT or NIV. I find that when I read this with my kids, we usually read a few stories at a time. Here's an online sample of this book.
Ok, so now I'm cheating a little bit. This isn't a Bible, it doesn't contain any references to the Bible, and as far as I'm aware, the author isn't a Christian, but this book is PERFECT. I don't know the names of many authors of children's books, but I know and love Julia Donaldson's stuff (Monkey Puzzle, The Gruffalo, and Stick Man are super fun!). This book, however, stands above and beyond the others. It is very much like Jesus' parable of The Good Samaritan, telling the story of a giant who gives selflessly and makes sacrifices to help others in need. Fun artwork, great rhyming and a powerful message! I would recommend getting the board book version if you've got younger kids.
You can view the entire story on Youtube here (although after reading it hundreds of times, I like my rendition of the giant's song and the character voices more).
FOR ELEMENTARY AGE KIDS
My First Hands-On Bible
This is my favorite Bible for toddlers to kids ages 8 or 9. It's not a complete Bible, but does take excerpts from the actual NLT translation to walk through the Bible's most notable events. Actually, the thing that I like the least (simply because I read it during story time and my kids are still quite young) is that the stories aren't paraphrased at all, but are passages straight from the NLT. That said, however, it covers a lot of material, has some really great pictures, and has a lot of action cues and ways to involve kids during and after each story. For example, kids are encouraged to make sounds like a storm during the story of Jesus calming the wind and the waves, and probably my favorite, in the story of Jesus' crucifixion, is to rip a tissue in half to explain the significance of the temple curtain being supernaturally torn. You can check out an online example here. There is a regular 'Hands-On Bible' for older kids, but it's not very conducive for story time.
The Bible App For Kids
If you are in the mood for a Bible that is more interactive and portable, I highly recommend The Bible App For Kids. It is a free download for Apple and Android devices, and contains a great selection of Bible stories with new ones being added every month. While I wouldn't recommend this replacing times where you sit and read with your kids, this can be a fun change of pace. I don't ever let my kids use the app on their own (although you could), but usually have them sitting on my lap as we hear the story and have fun clicking on the screen together. Some of the animations (like Samson doing his best Hulk Hogan impersonation) are hilarious. My kids are always begging to use this for our family Bible reading time, but I do find that sometimes they tend to fight over who gets to touch the screen and do the animations. You can find out more info and get the links to download it here.
Keys For Kids
Keys For Kids isn't a Bible, but it's a devotional magazine (think of a kids version of 'Our Daily Bread'**) that's been around for years. Each day contains a relevant story where kids learn some kind of biblical truth. It's suitable both for family story time or for young readers on their own. As a kid, I still remember this being the main way I dug into the Bible by myself. You can order a FREE subscription and have a physical book mailed to your home) here, or you can read it online or download the app. My personal preference is to read from an actual paper book. (**By the way, there is a kids version of 'Our Daily Bread' which is more of a one-year Bible format. You can view a PDF sample of that here.)
Comic Bibles
Here's the truth. As an older kid and pre-teen, I would NEVER have spent much time reading the Bible if it hadn't been given to me in comic book form. There are some great comic Bibles available today that will have your kids actually wanting to turn the pages. My two personal favorites are 'The Action Bible' and the Manga Bible series (Messiah, Messengers, Mutiny and Metamorphosis are just a few, although Messiah is a good place to start). These books help make the Bible come to life. They are definitely more for older kids as they do depict scenes of violence, but I would highly recommend either. The biggest difference is that 'The Action Bible' is more a North American animation style, while the Manga series is more of a Japanese animation style. What I like most about the Manga series is that on every page, it has Bible references to see exactly where to find that part of the story in the Bible. Check out a PDF sample of The Action Bible here! Check out a version of Manga Messiah here!
Well, that's it for today! If you attend Arlington Woods and managed to read through this list, I'm prepared to reward you. Have your kid find me on a Sunday and say "Manga Bibles are cool" and I will give you one of 10 copies of a condensed version of Manga Messiah (called The Messiah) FOR FREE. Once they're gone, they're gone!
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