Customer Reviews

The Family Story Bible

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

 

 

This is the only bible I am willing to read to my daughters, ages 4 and 6. I am very hard to please ... open in my spirituality, and desiring of inclusive material that is creative yet true to the sacred stories of the Christian tradition. This bible keeps my girls' interest and sparks their natural questions. It invites an open-ended sense of wonder, and avoids cliches or pat language. And I enjoy it. There are many stories of women in the bible, and all the stories are thoughtful, inclusive and understandable.

This is an excellent Bible particulary for folks of the Reformed/Presbyterian Tradition. The stories are told using real images and language -- it's not sugar-coated nor is the theology compromised by using a slightly elementary vocabulary. The illustrations are vivid and hold attention -- all in all, it's an excellent family Bible!

I originally bought this Bible beacuse the reviews said it had wonderful pictures and included stories that other bibles left out (such as women in the old testament.) I thought the pictures were really wonderful, but was very disappointed with most of the interpretation of the stories. There is much liberty taken with the stories and I find it to be more creative writing than accurate re-telling of the bible stories. For example, why is it important to include in the story of Jesus' birth "It hurt when the baby came out of Mary, and she cried. Joseph cried, too."

This is a charming version of the Bible for the family to read together--adults reading to kiddies too young to be able to read, for instance. It is the best version that I've seen for small children who have to be read to, and has good illustrations. Our 14 months old will sit down and "read" it aloud, looking over the pictures, for her own benefit. She favors the scenes with animals. I liked it because it tries to cover Old and New Testaments both and seems to touch on all the books of the Bible in a simplified way.

This book came recommended by my sister, who is a Presbyterian minister. I was looking for a way to include scripture in our daily lives but felt that the traditional devotional books were too structured for DD yet. I have found that reading these stories brings the Bible to life for her and I'm learning a great deal too. I would recommend this for any families and even those without children for learning the scripture and Bible stories in a way that make them interesting and memorable.

While this Bible story book retells many common and uncommon Bible storeis, there are three major drawbacks. First, the author takes liberty to add to and enhance many of the stories (while he admits to this on the appropriate pages, it is hard for children to understand the difference of story and truth). Additionally, the author mentions the word "sex" twice - once in the story of Hagar and once in the story of David & Bathsheba. Further, the author summarizes the book of Song of Songs, which while it is biblical, is not appropriate for children. These factors make this NOT a "family" story Bible. We do not recommend this story Bible for your family.