Marie-Hélène Delval

The self-described purpose of The Bible For Young Children is described as follows: "This selection of Bible stories, paraphrased for young readers, uses language and imagery appropriate for children while remaining faithful to the spirit of the biblical texts." I would suggest that it does neither really well. However, all of my critiques are for content and not for the illustrations. I found the illustrations captivating and fresh, a nice change from the children's books filled with stock show more images.

However, I found the text itself a bit disappointing both in form and content. First, the content. I found myself confused as to whether this was a story or a collection of isolated events. In some in instances, one narrative flowed right into the other. It read like an actual narrative. This was great but a rarity. More often, there was a major disconnect between the pages. For example, after talking about Noah's flood, which ended with, "This was God's promise that he would never, ever again destroy the earth like this," the next page begins, "Abraham and Sarah were old and they didn't [actually though, "couldn't" is more appropriate and actually part of the point of the story] have any children." How are those related? Are they? Also, the story begins with God saying "Light!" And the next page begins "God made the sky..." I felt like I was starting and stopping every page and that the book couldn't stay focused. This is representative of how the whole book reads. There has to be a better way to have the story flow and not make the reader feel like there are big gaps in the storyline.

The content itself was also a little disconcerting, but since my education and training is in Hebrew Bible, I recognize that I might just be a little too sensitive. For example, what does it mean for the world to "look like nothing"? It reminds me of Peterson's "soup of nothingness." To skip several other issues, I was also a little concerned with the portrayal of Jesus: "Jesus said to everyone he met, "Listen to the good news! God loves you all! You are his dear children!"" This sounds a little more like the Jesus of 21st century America than the Jesus that NT scholars tell me, and that I see, is in the New Testament. The author also changes details that don't need to be changed to make the story more kid-friendly. For example, why have Jesus resurrect "in the morning" instead of "the third morning"?

It seems that if the author wanted to pick up on the "spirit" of the Bible, it would have been more appropriate to find the big-picture narrative of the Bible and pick episodes that were most important to the story, rather than trying to piece it together using only the most "popular" episodes from the Bible. Most importantly, if the tradition of the Scripture is as important to pass down to our children as the Scriptures themselves say they are, it's important that any book claiming to be "The Bible" for young children should represent, as the preface says, the "spirit of the biblical texts." And this could have easily been accomplished in this volume, but was not. show less

This is my December Early Reviewer book, which arrived yesterday. It is a picture book for children, and the ER copy is unbound but otherwise "finished"--the illustrations and the type-setting are perfect, but the pages are loose inside a paper cover. Half the book is the illustrator's work, literally. On the left page each time is a metaphor of God (God is light, God is joy, God is wisdom) and on the right is a beautiful, full-color picture in a primitive style that illustrates or captures show more the spirit of the metaphor.

The author states at the beginning of the book that "Even though we cannot see or touch God, the Bible does describe many ways that we can still discover God in our world. This book offers a collection of these images, presented here in language that is appropriate for children while remaining faithful to the spirit of the biblical texts." There are 40 metaphors and 40 illustrations, three of which explicitly mention Jesus. The metaphors are presented at the top, and then 3 or 4 sentences that elaborate on the image in simple language are given. These are translated from the French, evidently by the author as no translator is mentioned. The author has written several other childrens books with the Bible as subject matter.

I think the book is beautiful both in its appearance and in its language. I can see a parent using it to introduce a child to the concept of God in a very rich way. While it could be read all the way through, coming back to consider a page or two at a time and to discuss it would be my recommendation. Even adults could use each page as a stimulus for meditation and prayer. show less

I have never seen a children's Bible with such gorgeous and realistic illustrations. The photo of the boat on the Galilee looks so real that I feel like I am there (and I have been there to visit in the past, by the way).
The stories are true to the Bible, albeit condensed, but that is very appropriate for the targeted age group of the reader (4-8). I used to direct Children's Education at our church while living in Venezuela and I had many experiences with children in this age group. I show more think that the stories are at their level and the illustrations would definitely hold their attention (and let's face it--for the 4-8 yr old child, the illustrations are just as important as the story!).
I love the fact that the book begins with Light and ends with the truth that Jesus is our Light.
May God inspire the author to produce more books such as this one. show less

How a children's Bible can omit the story of Adam and Eve, and thus the fall of man, is beyond me. As the story of God and the redemption of man it therefore fails right out of the box. On the other hand, the illustrations are some of the best ever to be found in a children's Bible. They are primitive, yet elegant in their simplicity. I very much appreciate that they are not cartoon like characters, which so many Bibles for young children include. These illustrations uphold the serious and show more beautiful content of the Bible; unfortunately, the story selection and flow of the narrative does not. show less