I spent this summer reviewing Children’s Bibles to use for the Joyful Learning curriculum. At first it was overwhelming, seeing an entire wall stocked with “Children’s Bibles,” but as I started looking through I was less than impressed by many. My criteria included: 1) number of stories included, 2) quality of illustrations, 3) age appropriate language, and 4) text size. After hours of clicking through online reviews, then sitting on the floor of the Christian bookstore scrutinizing the finalists…I found a couple that I really love!
My favorite for 2-4 year olds is...
Read and Share Bible by Gwen Ellis: $14.99
1) There are more than 200 bible stories
2) Every story has one or two delightful illustrations.
3) The stories chosen give a good chronological overview of the bible in simple, yet accurate language that preschoolers can understand.
4) The text is large and clear, making a nice transition for preschoolers who are becoming interested in recognizing letters and sounding out words.
A bonus feature is a little box at the end of each story commenting or making connections to a preschooler’s life.
Another huge plus for this bible is that you can buy it on DVD! The stories are not presented in order, there are four volumes each containing multiple stories using the same illustrations and language from the bible.
Note: I see that they just put out a toddler version in July. I would NOT recommend the toddler version for our purposes, as it only has half of the stories along with parent activities integrated after each story. Also, they have Christmas and Easter specials which are basically just the stories extracted from the bible and DVD and packaged together in a holiday theme. (I would save your money since it would just be repetitious, but it would be a great gift idea.)
My favorite for 2-4 year olds is...
Read and Share Bible by Gwen Ellis: $14.99
1) There are more than 200 bible stories
2) Every story has one or two delightful illustrations.
3) The stories chosen give a good chronological overview of the bible in simple, yet accurate language that preschoolers can understand.
4) The text is large and clear, making a nice transition for preschoolers who are becoming interested in recognizing letters and sounding out words.
A bonus feature is a little box at the end of each story commenting or making connections to a preschooler’s life.
Another huge plus for this bible is that you can buy it on DVD! The stories are not presented in order, there are four volumes each containing multiple stories using the same illustrations and language from the bible.
Note: I see that they just put out a toddler version in July. I would NOT recommend the toddler version for our purposes, as it only has half of the stories along with parent activities integrated after each story. Also, they have Christmas and Easter specials which are basically just the stories extracted from the bible and DVD and packaged together in a holiday theme. (I would save your money since it would just be repetitious, but it would be a great gift idea.)
