Customer Reviews

A Child's Garden of Bible Stories (Hb)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my favorite book of bible stories as a young child. It has beautiful pictures and the stories are written so that a young person in grade school can read them. Young children gravitate to this book.

I like to give copies of this book as presents to young children - I only wish it were in hard back as mine was.

My daughter loved this book. The stories are not too over simplified and not too complicated, but just right! It goes through the Old Testament and New Testament. The stories are interesting and just the right length for a bedtime story. Child's Garden of Bible stories

This is not a children's Bible, but a collection of Bible stories presented for children. There are many stories from both the Old and New Testaments, with an emphasis on Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospels. (Only 10 of the 60 stories are from other books of the Bible.) My own children have enjoyed this book more than most Bible story books we have read together, and we've tried a lot of them! The stories are the right length for young attention spans, and easy to read for both children and parents.

I appreciate the common-sense approach the author takes toward violent content. Unlike a lot of similar books, this one is frank about the the stories it retells. People die or are killed, and animals are sacrificed. But these elements of the stories are not emphasized, and are often omitted unless the event is intrinsic to the story. Adult content, such as promiscuity and adultery, is omitted altogether. The stories are safe for children to read, but not santitized beyond recognition.

The writing style is very clear, and the stories are told simply. Where possible, the author has clearly tried to remain close to the actual language of the Bible, rather than relying entirely on paraphrase and summary as other children's Bible story books do. The vocabulary is simplified, but sometimes oversimplified. For example, there are no references to "worship," only to "prayer." So Israel "prays" to the golden calf instead of worshiping it. I understand that the author wants children to get the right mental picture, but it is also important that children expand their vocabulary. Would it be so bad if a child inturrupted the story to ask, "what is 'worship'?"

The book is illustrated in color, but the drawings are not cartoonish. Really, I don't know why so many children's books use cartoony illustrations. Most children I know prefer realistic drawings, and I think that turning the Bible into cartoon images sometimes discourages children from taking the stories seriously.

No children's Bible story book is perfect, and this one has some disappointing ommissions. The Old Testament is covered as well as it can be, though Jonah is absent. The birth of John the Baptist is included, but not the baptism of Jesus, so we never find out why John is important. Also, the book ends with the ascention of Jesus, so there are no stories from Acts. Surely the stories of Pentacost, the missionary journeys of Paul, and the first martyrs are important enough to have been included.

Finally, even though the audience is children, the authors have to assume that parents will be reading along with their children. It would have helped if chapter and verse references were given for each story.

Despite the few flaws, I can confidently recommend this book to anyone who wants children to be familiar with the Bible.

A beautifully illustrated Bible Story book for young children. It served us, our children and now our grandchildren. It is a great gift for young children. Our church now routinely gives one every time a new child is born,

When I was a child back in the 50's I got this Bible Story book. Loved it back then. Got one for our children and am now buying it for our grandchildren. I love the artwork - it is beautiful. Stories are told simply, just right for children.