After being asked by a few mamas, I’m excited to share my thoughts on a few popular Story Bibles for young children to help you pick the one that works best for your family or Sunday School classroom.
Before our children can even understand the spoken word, we want to read and teach them God’s Word. We want them to hear us tell them that God made them and that He loves them. We want them to hear about God’s plan to send Jesus Christ as their Substitute before the foundations of the world were even laid.
Of course, you can jump right into reading the actual Bible! But story Bibles for young children can be helpful in making the stories and concepts in the Bible easier for our kids to understand.
The Bible is ONE Story
Before I get into sharing about these story Bibles, something of utmost importance when teaching God’s Word to little children {or anyone, really} is: we want them to know that God’s Word is ONE TRUE STORY. From cover to cover, it’s the story of God’s plan to redeem man through the person of Christ Jesus.
From my best memories, the Bible was taught to me primarily through church Sunday School classes. And while I can’t remember all the details of each teacher every year, there’s one thing I do remember: I didn’t see the Bible as one story. I sometimes didn’t even understand it as real history. I really thought there were two parallel histories: Bible history and the history I learned at school.
And because the Bible stories were taught in such a choppy way, I didn’t even understand the storyline of the Bible.
For example, I remember learning in a women’s Bible study at church how the Israelites were taken into captivity in Babylon. I was blown away because I seriously had thought up to that point in my life that the Israelites were taken into captivity over and over and over again. I had never gone through the Bible as one continuous story to understand how it all fit together.
So, let’s take advantage of teaching our kids God’s story: HIS-story, through the Bible! What a powerful gift.
*This post contains affiliate links. I am a participant in 1- the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and 2- other affiliated sites.
Story Bibles for Young Children
Below are some thoughts about each story Bible.
Before you purchase anything, dig and do your own research to make sure it’s the best fit for your family and kids. Once upon a time, I assumed that because a person said they were a “Christian,” or went to seminary, it meant they were a solid believer. I don’t assume that anymore.
Note: I have not personally used #1 and #4 with children. I do have my own copies of each, and I got recommendations from parents I trust that have used them.
1. The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm – for ages 2-5
- The book presents the “big picture” of the whole Bible, showing children how God’s plan is continuous from Genesis to Revelation.
- The stories included are presented accurately, with child-friendly and very basic language.
- There is a good balance of Old Testament and New Testament stories.
- Several stories in the Bible are combined, for example the prophets are combined in places to tell the story.
- The entire book focuses on God’s master plan of redemption. The “big picture” is God’s love for you.
- It is picture-heavy, but they are beautifully done, with details that kids will like.
2. The Beginner’s Bible by Zondervan – for ages 2-5
- The stories included are presented accurately, with child-friendly and very basic language.
- There is a good balance of Old Testament and New Testament stories.
- It is picture-heavy, like The Big Picture Story Bible.
- The stories included are the more well-known stories from both the Old and New Testaments.
- The stories are individual stories from the Bible with very little added to them.
3. Egermeier’s Bible Story Book by Elsie Egermeier – for ages 3-10
- The book presents the stories of the whole Bible broken down chronologically, starting with the Patriarchs in the Old Testament and ending with stories about the apostles in the New Testament.
- Most of the stories are paraphrased with child-friendly langauge, but the language isn’t “dumbed down” or compromised. Scripture references are included for each story.
- There are beautiful pictures sprinkled throughout, but it is not picture-heavy.
- Egermeier summarizes several stories in the Bible, but is still true to the text. For example, Jeremiah’s life from Jeremiah 37-52 is summarized and told as one story.
4. The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos – for ages 5-10
- The book presents the stories in the Bible accurately without a lot added to the stories.
- There are very few pictures in the story Bible {quite a few less than Egermeier’s even}, although the ones that are there are beautiful.
- The print is much smaller than the other story Bibles in this list.
- Some imagery has been added to the stories to help kids picture what’s happening.
5. MY TOP PICK: The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski – for ages 4-10*
- The book presents the “big picture” of the whole Bible, showing children how God’s plan is continuous from Genesis to Revelation.
- Every story points to God’s character and the promised Messiah. It’s done so in a beautiful way that doesn’t skew the story.
- The stories included are presented accurately, with child-friendly language.
- There is a good balance of Old Testament and New Testament stories.
- There is a picture for every story, but the main focus is the text.
- Quick questions to get discussion going are included at the end of every story.
*If you have younger children {ages 2-4} and love the idea of The Gospel Story Bible, then I’d encourage you to check out The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible by Jared Kennedy.
6. The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones – for ages 3-6
- This story Bible has been a very popular one with kids and families, which is why I have it on this list. I definitely read it to my kids when they were all younger. However, I would not recommend it now, especially in light of The Big Picture Bible and the The Gospel Story Bible.
- My biggest caution with this book would be that too much liberty is taken with the dialogue and the thoughts of Bible characters. This can skew the stories and the original intent of the Bible authors. Not only that, it can confuse children, who may believe something that isn’t in Bible. For example, the question the serpent asks Eve when he approaches her in the garden is, “Does God really love you?” This is not, however, what the serpent in the Bible asked Eve. But it fits the theme this story Bible.
- The book teaches that the Bible is mainly about God’s love and what He has done, not necessarily the individual people in the Bible or a list of commandments. The theme of God’s never-ending, never-stopping love is evident from the first story all the way throughout.
- Nearly every story points to God’s character and the promised Messiah.
- There is a good balance of Old Testament and New Testament stories.
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Enjoy teaching those littles the Bible!
~Becky
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