resources for teaching children (2): children's Bibles

"Of the making of many children's Bibles there is no end, and much study wearies the body" (Eccles. 12:12, paraphrase). Which is pretty much how I feel after looking at a multiplicity of children's Bibles for this post.

It's a far cry from my childhood, when the only children's Bible we had was an enormous tome written in KJV style prose. Apart from that we read adult's Bibles and discussed them with our parents during family Bible time each day. I don't think it did us any harm.

That being said, modern parents should be very grateful for the huge number of excellent resources available to us. Obviously we want to expose our kids to the Bible. We want them to get to know the Bible stories. We want to read them Bible stories in a format they can understand and relate to.

Here are some good Bibles for different age groups (I've chosen a few key stories to test them out. Do they skip over God's judgement during the flood and the passover? Do they tell the story of Jonah to the end? How do they handle Jesus' death?):

• 1 year olds: the God loves me Bible, probably the only Bible I've seen which has stories short and simple enough for babies. Each page ends with "... and God loves you", which is a pretty good repetitive phrase to get into a 1-year old's head. Ours fell apart we read it so often!
• 2 year olds: The Toddler's Bible, the stories are simple and short enough for tiny attention spans, with clear, colourful pictures. The theology is simple but clear: the story about Jesus' death has an excellent gospel explanation, for example.
• 2-5 year olds: The Rhyme Bible Storybook. This would never be the only Bible you buy, as it's told entirely in rhyme, but it's a great second Bible for a young child, and good fun for reader and listener. This has been read a lot in our family: our kids all adored it.
• 3-5 year olds, great for 3s: The Beginner's Bible. An excellent choice for a very young audience. The sentences are short and clear, and the illustrations simple and cartoon-like. Like most kids' Bibles, it's a little coy about the flood, but tells the full story of God's judgement on Egypt, and explains the cross really well.
• 3-5 year olds, great for 4s: The Lion First Bible. This is beautifully written, and the illustrations are well-drawn and appealing. It doesn't come clean on exactly what happened during the flood and the passover. But it covers a lot of stories for a kid's Bible, and the excellence of the writing makes it a good choice.
• 4-6 year olds: Well-written, comprehensive and true to the Bible, this is one of the very best kids' Bibles. It doesn't skip over God's judgement, and it takes Jonah's story right to the end (now that's unusual for a kids' Bible). The illustrations are good, and my kids especially like the detailed borders.
• 4-6 year olds: Read With Me Bible, one of my personal favourites, because it uses a simplified text of the NIrV, so it's a great introduction to the language and phrases of an adult's Bible. It's highly readable, tells the full story of the flood and the passover, and has bold comic-book style pictures which appeal to our kids and make me smile.
• 4-8 year olds: The Lion Day-By-Day Bible. Here's that rare thing: a kids' Bible that is both comprehensive and simply written. It retells much more of the Bible than most kids' Bibles, doesn't miss the scary bits, and actually covers the whole story of Jonah! The readings (one for each day of the year) are short and well-told, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

And (fanfare) here are the winners of the in all honesty children's Bible competition. They're not only beautifully told and illustrated, they also show how every story points to Jesus and fits into the big Bible story. I'd suggest you buy both of these, but since they're quite interpretative, you may also want a more straightforward children's Bible from the list above, depending on your preferences and the ages of your kids.

• 3-8 year olds: The Jesus Storybook Bible. Every Bible story finishes with a couple of paragraphs explaining how it points to Jesus. The exquisite illustrations are far beyond the normal standard for children's Bibles, and the writing is dynamic and appealing.
• 3-8 year olds: The Big Picture Story Bible. Instead of concentrating on individual stories, it gives the overall story of God's saving plan, and introduces some pretty hefty theological concepts along the way (I was impressed that the creation story focussed not on what was made when, but on the creation of the world by God's word). It's engagingly told, well-illustrated, and big enough to read to a group.

Once your child is reading independently, they may enjoy these in addition to a "real" Bible:

• 6-9 year olds: The Comic Book Bible. You would never buy this as your kids' only Bible, since it's the Bible in comic-book form, but it's reliable, accurate, and makes an excellent gift for an independent reader who loves comics and who you want to get reading the Bible more. My 7-year-old son also enjoys the Bible Society comics.
• 6-9 year olds: The DK Illustrated Family Bible. A typical DK book, this accompanies an excerpted version of the NIV text with lots of geographical, historical and archeological facts. Again, it won't be your main Bible, but it will appeal to a child with an inquiring mind, and it's a great way to get an older child reading an adult version of the Bible for themselves. (The Big Book of Bible Facts is another good Bible aid for the "inquiring mind" kind of kid.)
• early teens: Andrew Knowles' Fount Children's Bible (only available second hand). By this age, of course, they'll hopefully be reading the Bible for themselves. But this one deserves a mention. Not so much for accuracy (did you know Jonah was a "pompous, argumentative little man"?) but as an imaginative, accomplished re-telling of the Bible stories which brings them to life.

Of course, by the time they're reading independently, your kids will need a proper Bible. You may choose to give them an adult's Bible. But if you'd like them to use a simpler Bible for their own reading, some decent choices include the Good News Bible (a simple adult's translation); the NIrV (perfect for families which read the NIVit has short and clipped sentences, excellent for reading out loud, making it a good transition to the NIV); or the International Children's Bible, the children's edition of the NCV (the only Bible I'm aware of translated specifically for children from the original texts, it will probably be preferred by families which read the ESV for its accuracy and thoroughness).

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as children's Bibles are concerned. You may have a completely different favourite which you use in your family. If so, share it with us in the comments, and tell us what you like about it!

In coming posts on this topic we'll be looking at resources for Sunday School, teaching kids Biblical theology, Christian biography for kids, and ... you'll have to wait and see.

Follow the thread on resources for teaching children here.