the Creation story for children by Helen and David Haidle

There is a book written for children by Helen and David Haidle called the Creation story for children. This is a wonderful hardcover book that tells the story of Creation using Scripture from the King James Bible. The Scripture used comes from Genesis 1-2 and Psalms 139, focusing on God's creation.

On each page there is a Scripture given including reference verse along with writing that relates the Scripture back to the child's life in connection with the Creation story. This is a engaging way to really immerse a child in the true history of how the world was created, by our God. Mixed in with the story are questions that the child can be encouraged to answer so that it leads to better understanding of Scripture and what occurs in our lives. Children need more ideas to grab onto to retain new information and this book really offers a helping hand in the educational arena.

Beautifully illustrated, each page has it's own related picture that goes along with the Scripture and story told. This book does show Adam and Eve in the Garden alongside dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, and if you believe in the literal 6 day Creation this isn't a problem. My children enjoy learning that Adam and Eve walked among the dinosaurs as stated in Scripture. At the end of the book there is a section on God's "amazing creatures" like octopus, hummingbird, hedgehogs, velociraptors among others with information on the animals from a non-evolution viewpoint.

The very end of the book concludes with Psalm 139 telling children how they are made in a child friendly way and again beautifully illustrated. There are beautiful pictures of children enjoying life and some are shown in nature enjoying God's Creation. The most beautiful picture though is that of the baby in it's mother's womb for Psalm 139:13,15 - there is something that words cannot describe seeing an in utero baby - but it is done in a way a child will enjoy (no shock value, in other words).

With child friendly and engaging illustrations this will be a wonderful addition to any families personal library, it would also be a welcome addition to a church or school's library. This book would make a wonderful baby shower or new baby gift or even just for use in an educational way for schools, home school, or Sunday schools. This book will be treasured and enjoyed for many years to come. The Creation story for children is published by Master Books a division of New Leaf Publishing.

WisdomKids: Psalm 1 - Be Like A Tree (Sharon Crooks)

WisdomKids: Psalm 1 - Be Like A Tree written by Sharon Crooks which is a wonderful unit study and Bible copywork together. Sharon makes it clear this is not meant to replace regular Bible study but instead is to complement it. There are 34 pages, filled with copywork, coloring pages, question and answers, word study and certificate of completion.

By the end of doing this unit study children will have learned Psalm 1 and be able to recite it and also know what it means. Children can memorize all the Scripture they want but if they don't understand the what and why behind it then they can't effectively use it in their life. Sharon Crooks puts an end to this, by utilizing a fun way for children to memorize and learn about a section of the Scripture passage each week and building on it, it makes memorizing and understanding easy.

The Scripture is taken from the International Children's Bible but once they learn this version of the Scripture, the NKJV is included at the end so that the child can learn another version of the Scripture. I like the fact that the Bible used is a simpler, easier to understand version for the children and as they grow in Biblical truths and understanding of Scripture they can move on to the more difficult (but beautiful) language of the KJV.

The listed ages for this are 5 through 13. I know my soon to be 5 year old would not be ready for the copywork portion but would enjoy the coloring pages while the coloring would be somewhat simple for my 7 year old but the copywork would be just right for her. My two year old has a couple years. You would have to use your best judgement as to what works for each child, thankfully CurrClick offers you a full sized mini preview so you can see what is included in this great Bible Unit Study by Sharon Crooks.

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.