7 great Bibles for children

A friend asked me some time ago, about what good children bibles there were out there. I dug around, and realised that we had quite a few at home!

1. Candle Bible for Toddlers by Juliet David

One of my favourites is the “Candle Bible for Toddlers”.

Suitable for reading even to babies, I love the super cute illustrations and the simple, short prose. It covers many, many stories in both the Old Testament and New. I also use it at times to teach Sunday School.

2.  The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm

This is another personal favourite which I liked so much that I once wrote a post on it alone. The place with the best price for it (better than Amazon with free shipping, the last I checked) is Shalom Christian Media.

It does not depict the bible in terms of ‘stories’, but characterises the unified story of God’s intent and grace as it runs through the Old and New Testaments. It shows children how the bible is one big story of “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule”, and is a very important addition to the many ‘children’s bibles’ out there. I think even adults will profit from reading through it!

3.  The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

In the same vein, the popular “Jesus Storybook Bible” aims to show how “Every story whispers His name”.  An official blurb on it says:

From Noah to Moses to the great King David—every story points to him. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together. From the Old Testament through the New Testament, as the Story unfolds, children will pick up the clues and piece together the puzzle. A Bible like no other, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation—and at the center of their Story too.

4.  My ABC Bible Book by Carolyn Larsen

Someone gave us “My ABC Bible Book”, which has lovely illustrations. It’s slightly simpler on the theological scale, but very colourful and easy to read, so 1-2 year olds would enjoy having it read to them.

5. The Beginners Bible by Kelly Pulley

This was given to us, and I liked the fact that at the bottom of each story, it cites the relevant Bible chapters, so parents or older kids can easily find the actual bible text for more context, etc.

6. Bible Stories for Growing Kids by Francine Rivers and Shannon Rivers Coibion

This was an amazing bargain buy by my dad recently from one of those shopping mall bookfairs. I was very impressed by the content. The text includes how to pronounce the more difficult bible names (like ‘Midianites’ in the sample page below) and places, and has “Growing Time” sections throughout the book, which makes it especially helpful for family devotions.

7. One Year Bible for Children by V. Gilbert Beers

I bought this a long, long time ago when I read about its recommendation on a blog post. I have been saving it for the time my kids could read independently, and it seems that it will come into good use soon! K is currently using another devotional, but I’ll encourage her to start on this next January.

It’s suitable for older kids, probably 8 and above, since it carries a direct reference to a bible passage that they can read first, and has helpful sections on what to ‘remember’, ‘discover’ and ‘apply’. (Hmm, this makes me wonder if I could use it myself!)

So there you have it, all the bibles that I’m familiar with.  If you have any favourite bibles, please feel free to share about them in the comments section! 🙂