Customer Reviews

The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who enjoyed the Beginner's Bible by Karyn Henley, this is NOT it! I gave Karyn's bible to my son seven years ago and was looking for a replacement for my daughter. I bought this bible by mistake because the illistrations and title were so similar and have been hugely disappointed. It lacks depth and purpose in the stories. This book might as well been written by an athiest who can spout out a story line but lacks any genuine understanding behind the story. If looking for a children's bible I strongly recommend finding a Beginner's Bible by Karen Henley (used or new) rather than settling for this or any other children's edition that reduces these stories to a trite sequence of events.

It is a good Bible for children who are learning to read, but not suitable for reading and teaching accurate bible history or lessons to young school age children. The stories are simplistic, and, as one reviewer suggested, kind of "leave you hanging". The illustrations are also simple, and very "cartoonish". Also, many good Bible stories are missing altogether.
If you want an accurate, easy to understand, complete Bible Story book with beautiful, "true to the times" illustrations, I suggest the "Children's Bible in 365 Stories" by Mary Batchelor. I bought that along with this one, and we liked that one much better.

This Bible has been the perfect teaching tool for my child. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging, the text is appropriate for young readers, and the division of stories comes at the right spacing for brief attention spans. This is not a literal, word-per-word excerpt from the Bible, but rather a paraphrasing into not only vocabulary but tone that is just right for children. I have begun to purchase this and give it out to friends with new babies, in hopes that their kids will grow up with this text too. A great version of the Bible.

James W. Miller is the author of God Scent

I bought this as a baptism gift for my nephew, and I was SO happy to find it. The stories are simple, but still comprehensive and interesting, and the pictures are really compelling. I looked at a lot of illustrated bibles for children, and this was the only one I found with multicultural drawings, which was really important to me. I didn't want to buy my nephew a book that depicted all of God's children as blonde, blue-eyed Caucasians. This bible has great stories AND great pictures and I absolutely recommend it.

The Beginners Bible picks out the popular events of the Old and New Testament and is written in simple easy-to-understand way for kids 2 years old to about 7 years old. The illustrations are wonderfully done and my daughter and I read it at least twice over when she was about 3.

Many Bible stories have serious and often brutal content --- floods, rains of fire, disfiguring disease, sacrifice, mauling by lions, and human torture. Remembering fearful thoughts in my own childhood after hearing these stories and seeing pictures in a family Bible storybook, I really searched for a way to introduce my grandson to a loving God. This simple little book is colorful, accurate, entertaining and has more emphasis on the wonder and miracles of God than the evil in the world. There is plenty of time for my grandson to learn about that! Highly recommended for the pre-schooler and early reader.

The problem with this beginners Bible is how it represents God. Imagine, the story of Noah begins with God being "sad" because people didn't think of him (and so consequently flooding the earth). This makes God seem like a tyrant to a small child (imagine creating fear in a child re: thinking of God). The actual scripture says "the thoughts of man were only evil all of the time." This could be better put into child language such as God felt upset because the people he made kept hurting each other and doing mean things to each other (so SOMETHING closer to the idea in scripture). A kind of lazy thinking dominates both the text and illustrations (which lack any depth or expression besides googley eyes). Imagine my dismay when I received three for my sons first birthday. As someone who does not like to take God's name in vain, I feel this thoughtless representation does just that.

I researched a LOT of (children's) Bibles before buying this one - and I can tell you this one is simply the best. The illustrations are outstanding and the associated text with each picture is very pleasant to read to our five year old every night.

I agree with the other 2 two star reviews I have read.
I know the version I have (earlier copyright) on page 357 under 'The Net' story it states"The good people will get to stay in God's kingdom, but the bad people will not."
Really? John 3:36 and Isiah 64:6 and the rest of the Bible teachings refute that good people will be in heaven because no human is perfectly good.
How good is good? And how many bad things make you bad? It is whether you are a true believer or an unbeliever, not good or bad. None of us are perfectly good.

My girls are 3 years old and they love this. There's just enough "substance" in the few lines per page to get the meaning of each story. The pictures are great. I can open up to anywhere in the book and they love to hear me read. They even bring the book to me and say, "Read it please!"

I love the Birth of Jesus story in the New Testament. It's a very well written, all inclusive version of the Birth of Christ.

The hardcover is very sturdy and the pages seem thick, so even if eager toddler fingers are turning pages, they don't rip easily.