God Gave Us the Bible

One of the questions we get asked the most, is which Bible or Bible story book we recommend parents purchase for their children. There are a lot of factors to consider and what is best for one child may not work at all for another.

We are always interested when new Bible story books are released, as many parents use them for family devotionals. Recently, we were given the opportunity to review God Gave Us the Bible by Lisa Tawn Bergren. The book contains forty-five Bible stories “for little ones”.

The book is a pit of a puzzle. Although the length of the stories is shorter than story Bibles for older children, the vocabulary is more appropriate for them than very young children. Personally, I believe the length of the stories is too short for the aged child to whom the vocabulary might appeal. Children with that much sophisticated vocabulary can handle stories twice as long (or more).

The stories are also too short for a family devotional. Some Bible stories are only one page long – meaning a lot is summarized. It also means a lot of important details in stories are omitted entirely.

The other problem is the idea that the book is actually a book of stories a mother bear told other animals. While that can work for something like the principles shared in the Bernstein Bears books, it becomes a bit awkward in this context.

The young animals “listening” to the stories interject at times to make observations and ask questions. Young children are literal, concrete thinkers. So when a bear cub asks a question as if he or she were human, it just adds an unnecessary layer of confusion. The author could easily have used humans as those characters and eliminated the need for more explanations.

In the end, this book of Bible stories is fine. It’s just not great. If the children in your life find it interesting though, it’s worth exploring with them. Use it to help transition them to an NIrV Bible if they are old enough to read or another story Bible if they can’t.

This book was given to us for free in exchange for our honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.

Published by

Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

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