In the last post I shared some suggestions for children and their Bibles. In this post I want to share some of our experiences and make some book recommendations.
Bibles
I mentioned in the last post that you should get a child a Bible they can read.
This link gives you the graded reading level for most of the popular versions. As CBD mentions not everyone agrees with these levels and you may not notice a big difference. For example, I think the ESV reads pretty easy, but it is rated harder than the NKJV, which was a surprise to me.
Here is another helpful chart comparing versions.
Let me encourage you to stick with a standard translation rather than a paraphrase. Also, if the child is able, try using a version they can use as an adult so their memory work and familiarity with it will grow.
The International Children’s Bible published by Thomas Nelson is a good version for small children that they can read. There are other easy to read versions that may serve your child well.
Austin used the ICB from like 4 years of age till he was 7 years of age. It worked well for him. At his 7th Birthday, he received an ESV – Seek and Find version for young children and teens. He has loved it and we found it to be very good.
Brooke, being our girl, had to use what most girls in America use – the Precious Moments Bible. It is a NKJV version in a custom made case by her Nana. It has worked well for her. She has had it for a few years. She is six now. We will likely purchase her an ESV sometime in the next couple of years.
Bible Story Books
We have used several Bible story books. I don’t think I found them all to share at this time in this post, but here are some we have used. Amanda has used these much more than me because she does Bible time each day during homeschool.
Please understand that I am not endorsing everything in these books. Often the book will add information that is not in the Bible or may contain false teaching. But we have found them generally helpful in reading stories to our children.
365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Stories – This book was used for last year’s homeschool and goes through the Bible in the same order as a typical Bible. It involves a one page story and has a question at the end of each story.
See-It and Say-It Bible Storybook – This one is not very comprehensive but is great for small children who can help you read the story by saying the word for the picture given. It will have a picture of a horse for example, and the child will say “horse” each time that picture occurs in the story. It has great illustration and makes a good bed-time book.
The Picture Bible – Amanda found this one at a yard-sale and is using it for Bible this year. It is written and illustrated like a comic book. It covers most of the Bible and tries to make the stories understandable, which means that it does add some information not in the text.
Egermeier’s Bible Story Book – This was one from my childhood that we still use. It contains somewhat longer stories with very little illustrations. But it does a good job of telling the stories and is very thorough in the material it covers.
1 comment
Good info, Josh!