Welcome! Welcome to the my Best Bible-based Books for Kids series! Whew! That’s a mouth-full, huh? I’m seriously excited about this series and hope you enjoy it as much as I’m gonna.
If you’ve been around me for even twelve minutes you probably know which book I’m going to begin this series with. My first book of a 31 day series about Bible-ish books has to be the Jesus Storybook Bible. It is by far the best book in the whole wide world. I even interviewed (and possibly scared) the author, Sally Lloyd Jones a few years ago.
This book, with no exaggeration, has made more of an impact on my kids and my interaction with the Bible than any other book we own. We have read it so many times I can’t count. We bring it up in conversation. I even made wall art in homage to the book’s amazing theme, “God’s Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.”
The Jesus Storybook Bible is a magnificiently illustrated book that tells the main stories of the Bible (Noah, Abraham, Jesus’ parables, etc.) with a beautiful thread of pointing to Jesus and his sacrifice for us.
Some of my favorites…
The Tower of Babel-->
“You see, God knew, however high they reached, however hard they tried, people could never get back to heaven by themselves. People didn’t need a staircase; they needed a Rescuer. Because the way back to heaven wasn’t a staircase; it was a Person.
People could never reach up to Heaven, so Heaven would have to come down to them.
And one day, it would.”
Abraham and Isaac–>
“Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. Like Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked. He wouldn’t struggle or run away.
Who was he God’s Son, his only Son–the Son he loved.
The Lamb of God.”
Feeding the 5000—>
“Well, Jesus did many miracles like this. Things people thought couldn’t happen, that weren’t natural.
But it was the most natural thing in all the world. It’s what God had been doing from the beginning, of course. Taking the nothing and making it everything. Taking the emptiness and filling it up. Taking the darkness and making it light.”
Awesome, right? If you are new to God, the Bible or Christianity, you need this book. It will give you a great overview of the Bible, of God’s plan and of Jesus’ great love for you. I think it’s also helpful for connecting the Bible into everyday life because the stories aren’t just stories–they show a deeper meaning behind the beginning, middle, end of a chain of events.
Some activities we’ve done with the Jesus Storybook Bible:
1. Bread & the Last Supper 2. Nails 3. Invisible Armor
4. Make Your Own Treasure Stones 5. The Wall of Jericho 6. The Little Girl and the Poor Frail Lady
affiliate links included
This is our ultimate favorite, too! Can’t wait to see the rest of your favorites!
We love it too!
Oh YES. I adore this book!! And I can’t wait until we finish the ABC devotional we’re working through again so we can go back to the Jesus Storybook Bible. (Annalyn loves Missy and Bill in the ABC book, so thanks, I guess, for that recommendation, too. It’s just far from my own favorite. And she loves the storybook bible, too!)
We have this Bible story book in German – “Die Jesus hat dich lieb Bibel”! We found the stories too long for the attention span of our boys, so decided to split the stories into two reading sessions. Our boys love it! We’ve recommended this book to others around us, and also buy it for baby gifts for our German-speaking friends!
I haven’t heard of these, will check them out! Thanks for sharing.
Agree! Love, love, love the Jesus Storybook Bible! Just ordered a new copy last week, as our first copy has pages falling out… been loved on a little much! I noticed for the first time that they now have the whole thing on cds and a dvd – so, of course, I ordered those too!
Can’t wait to see what else will be on your list!
We LOVE The Jesus Storybook bible. So many times it has brought me to tears as she gently reminds me the truth of Gods word. Apparently there is a new adult bible that sounds like it’s sorta like The Jesus Storybook Bible. Jessica Thompson instagrammed a pic of it yesterday. It’s called the Gospel Transformation Bible. She said “it’s a normal bible but the study notes are very gospel-centered”. I’m excited to check it out.
Hand down the best children’s bible. If there is one thing I have learned growing up in the church our curriculums don’t point to Christ. This Bible shows the big picture….it always points us to Christ. I love that….my 4 year old loves it.
This is one of my favorites as well. I love to give it as a baby shower gift. As a pastor’s wife, I attend a lot of them and it is a simple yet special gift.. not too expensive either.
Our kids have this Bible and we love it. I was drawn to the drawings immediately, but the content and the way it is written makes it so much more than just a pretty book.
I purchased the book a couple of years ago after you shared it and it has absolutely become our favorite as well! One of my favorite, most meaningful activities has been using the “Smelly Feet” chapter. During Easter week for the past 3 years, we have read the story and then washed our kids feet.
I also did a Bible study with moms on the Storybook Bible. We would read the stories with our kids during the week and read the corresponding scriptures and journal. It was great!
I could not agree more! This is an AMAZING book- which we have read with our kids over and over. We also have the Family Time bible which is another great resource for toddler age children. We have also started a wonderful devotion to read to our kids before school each day called Grace for The Moment- by Max Lucado- which is also a really great book!
We have this Bible and my children my love it! They ask every evening to read from it, I’m so thankful we have it!
I love hearing my daughter quote it: God’s “Never-stopping, never-giving-up, unbreaking, always and forever love” – what a great truth to “impress” on our kids… The audio CDS are SUPERB!! He just brings it to even more life, & the kids love imitating his voice. I’ve given it to people who are on the journey to Christ to read to their kids, and it has been a great influence on them & their families.
I would like to get this for my kids for Christmas after hearing so many good things about this book- from you and others! I see though that there are 2 versions, one by Zondervan published in 2011 and the other in 2007. Are ther any differences between the 2 versions and if so, what kinds of differences? Which version do you recommend? Anyone? Thanks!
I concur – this Bible is amazing and has been such a blessing to our family. I think there is a DVD version available now!!!
Oh my, after your recommendation I went and bought this book off Amazon. This is the second book I’ve bought based on your review. I certainly hope this isn’t the way it goes for me through all 30 remaining books – my credit card will definitely be warm! =)
I need this book! I went to Christian School as a child and I got a very good foundation there. We can’t afford that for our children I feel that I lack the ability to string it all together for my kids. I tell the stories and answer questions the best I can, but I just “know” the stuff. I don’t think I put it terms well enough for them to get the whole picture. Thank you for this!
We LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible. My kids read it all the time and we have the version with the CDs (read absolutely terrifically by David Suchet). My kids listen to the CDs every night as they are going to sleep. They can both recite most of the stories. And they both have their favorites…my son acts out the story of David and Goliath nearly every day and my daughter is drawn to the story of the plagues. As for me, the last story in the book about the book of Revelation brings me to my knees every.single.time. Love it.
Yes, we have 2 – one for the kids and one for me!! 🙂
we totally love the Jesus Storybook bible – tomorrow we finish using the curriculum with our Sunday club at church too – all the teachers have learnt loads as well as the kids (and the whole church!)
I’m looking forward to the other 30 days you have! thanks for the inspiration… it’s brilliant to know there are other christian parents excited for and with their children!
We love it!
We give it to everyone we know for baptisms and dedications.
It always points to the Christ and makes the Bible have a big picture instead of just stories.
Thank you, Melissa, for letting me know it’s in German, too. We have German neighbors. 🙂
I love that you can get the CDs or DVD with it, too. Love it!
I am ordering this Bible . You give it such good reviews, I think we need it! Also getting her other book Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing. Have you had a chance to look at that one? I am really enjoying your site. Gathering supplies for the Tinsel book. My daughter is older, 11…but she still likes this kind of thing. I’m happy for that. What is your fave adult Bible? We hot pink NIV Life Application Bible for myself and the hot pink child’s Life Application one for daughter. Have you had a chance to look at either of those? I appreciate your overviews!
We just ordered this book – my girlfriend has it and loves it. I’m so excited to wrap it up and give it to my son this Christmas. We have children’s Bibles, but this by far makes me more excited than what we’ve got now!!