We have had the Jesus Storybook Bible for probably about a year now, but we didn't use it very much until we started doing family devotionals when we were done with dinner. My husband and I decided we would start by just going through this storybook Bible together as a family so the kids would hear some of the familiar Bible stories, and because this particular children's Bible was supposed to show how Jesus is connected and shown throughout all the stories in the Bible, and not just in the New Testament. Sounds great right? I was quite excited. And in the beginning... the Jesus Storybook Bible was beautiful, and I loved it. The pictures were amazing, the wording was gorgeous and powerful, it seemed to be a wonderful addition to our little home library. However, as we progressed through the stories, I found them adding in just too many details and "storytelling" things that are not included in the Bible, and it made me leary. As we continued on, it started to make me upset. And now we have still not finished it, I dread reading it to the kids, and we have already bought a replacement to use in our Homeschooling for the next school year.
I know there are many people who LOVE this Storybook Bible. We thought we would too, and if we hadn't been sitting and going through the whole thing together, then I may have even been recommending it to people based on the clips I read online, and from what we read at the beginning. I would say, pray about this. Be leary of it, and look for yourself to see if it would work for your family. If I had to review it in one sentence, I'd say "Great storybook, poor Bible".
I guess we as a family have just gotten to the point where, I don't want my children to have a storybook that changes and elaborates and kiddies down everything in the Word of God. I want them to have something real that is on there level. We think we have found that in another Children's Bible, and I will do a review on that as we get into it and I make sure its what we are looking for. =o)
I have never read, or even looked through The Jesus Storybook Bible. I am already quite leary of any storybook "bible". Sadly, it seems that nowadays publishers want to water everything down for children. In my opinion, that should not be the case. Children are highly intelligent and can grasp the Truths that God has given in the Bible. Sometimes I want a good storybook Bible but then I realize His Word was written perfectly the way it is, even for children. I truly believe that they get it. Just keep reading to them straight from the real Bible. As you go, just stop and explain it to them if they are having trouble understanding. And, if you aren't quite sure what something means, look it up together. What a powerful way to teach your children how to study! This is just my opinion, of course. But it is what we do in our home also.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find what you are looking for!
I agree with you to a point Ellen. We of course do sit at times and read from the Word of God together as a family and individually, and most of Abby's Bible work that she does is from "The Bible" and not a storybook or children's version. However, Will is 3, and I feel that while all children of all ages do benefit from hearing the Word of God, that in addition to that a children's Bible can be very beneficial in helping them understand the basics of a story, seeing pictures that help them understand what is actually being said, etc. The Children's Bible we have found and are going through now and looking at for schoolwork for the littles, is done realistically and not in a cartoony way, and the stories are very accurate. They include all the basics of a Bible story that a kid would understand and remember, and they don't add silliness to it. I'm quite pleased - and it is actually a reprinted Children's Bible from about 30 or so years ago! Can't find anything new that fits what I am looking for. Its also important for us to have a Children's Bible for each of the younger ones who are not reading yet, because when we go to church and are listening to the sermon that is the time that the kids who can't follow along in the Bible can pull out their Children's Bible to look through on their own as long as they sit quietly with it. It is the only thing we allow during church for them to do, the rest of the service we have them participate in prayer, singing, and all ways in which we worship and fellowship with other believers. Having the Children's Bibles allows them to have their own "Bible" during the sermon, it keeps them quiet and sitting nicely which we expect them to learn to do at church from an early age, and it helps from distracting the people around us, which we feel is something we are responsible for too (of course, that never goes perfectly and we often DO distract people around us, but we try not to, haha). I think there are benefits with the RIGHT Children's Bible. I just don't think the Jesus Storybook Bible is one of them, and you think the word storybook being in the title might have clued me in!
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