"The Big Picture Story Bible" by David Helm

From the Crossway site:


No child is too young to begin learning about the greatest love story of all—God’s love for his people, as portrayed in the Bible. David R. Helm and Gail Schoonmaker collaborate to create a beautifully illustrated book of Bible stories especially for children, written with simplicity. Rather than simply retelling the most familiar short scenes from the Bible, this book presents the “big picture”—the unified story running through the Old and New Testaments. This delightful book will help children learn the Bible’s whole story and begin to appreciate the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people.


The Big Picture Bible Story Book is perfect for parents to read to their children, and eventually, for children to read on their own. It is an excellent way to introduce them to a book that will guide them through all of life


My Opinion:


When this arrived in my mail box, my children and I were very excited! This is a huge hard cover Bible just for children with 456 pages and a 9 X 9 size, just right for little ones to enjoy looking at. Larger print will allow begining readers to more easily see and read the words and with larger type there aren't as many sentences per page so as not to overwhelm a child reading this. A good basic Bible story book for young children with short attention spans, each story can be read in 10 minutes or less of course follow your child's lead and come back to it later.


Large, vibrant colored illustrations done by Gail Schoonmaker are beautiful additions and hold children's attention from the minute they open The Big Picture Story Book. Even I enjoyed the illustrations - with simple detail for children but enough for an adult to enjoy while reading the story - it's a great balance.


Each story has a question weaved into the writing that can be asked nonchalantly and a pause after will allow children to give their thoughts. Such as in the account of Adam and Eve children will be asked what they might have done? and what did Adam and Eve do? This will increase their cognition of the Biblical accounts of those gone before us and well as help later when they need to recall these historical happenings. This Bible will have an honored place among the 'grown up' Bibles in your house for years to come and would make a great heirloom that your children's children can enjoy.


To purchase your own copy.


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**I was provided a copy of The Big Picture Story Bible through Crossway and Amy S. in exchange for my honest review - no other compensation was given.

What Does the Bible Say About That? by Carolyn Larsen

Children often wonder what the Bible says about certain topics wether it's something as mundane as math class or something as serious as abortion, children will wonder. Crossway and Carolyn Larsen have put out a great book that can help children (recommended for ages 8 to 12) understand what the Bible says on topics that concern their lives.

There are 300 topics included in "What Does the Bible Say About That?", that range from animals to laziness, clothes to drug abuse and others like dieting, dancing, sex, tattoos and other topics. Mrs. Larsen writes the book in a friendly, familiar style that talks to children instead of at them or down on them. The easy reading style is accompanied by cute cartoons that drive home important points about the topic.

Each topic begins with a question: "What does the Bible say about....?" and then addresses what the Bible says. I didn't find anything that would be controversial or un-Biblical in regards to what the Bible would say about any of these topics. The next part is a few Scripture on what the Bible does say on that topic, the version of the Bible used and quoted is the English Standard Version. Time to face the facts is the next section, it gives guidance that the child can use to direct what they should or shouldn't do according to what the Bible says. Lastly, there is a section that gives the child something to do to on that day to reinforce what they learned from reading.

This book isn't too take away the parent's authority but can serve as a way to open dialouge between parent and child on topics that otherwise may be hard to discuss or for the parent to know what to say. My daughter, who is 7, really enjoyed reading the sections I allowed her to and she says she always wants to keep this book - which is fine by me.

I will say that there were a few sections that I used some non-permanent glue and paper to cover over since I don't feel that children are ready for some of these things at the age this book is geared for, such as boys, dating, drinking, drug abuse, puberty and sex. These are things that while they will eventually have to know about but at the tender, innocent age of 8 to 12 they don't need the information even though it is Biblically based - I read those sections. Although I will say if the child is in a public or private school there may be a need for them to read these sections and discuss them with their parents. As a homeschool family these issues haven't and won't arise for awhile.

Overall this book is a great and well worth it read. The child can easily read it by themselves or read it together with a parent for a devotional. I would recommend this book to the family that isn't sure what they should say regarding certain topics that will come up during the growing up years.