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While I feel nothing is better than reading the Bible itself, sometimes it is useful to have a lighter version or youth version to read with our children. Once you move away from the storybook Bibles, where can you turn for an edition that is geared towards ages 8 to 12? Bethany House recently released a new book in the category of Young Adult Bible Stories called The Whole Bible Story: Everything That Happens in the Bible.
About The Whole Bible Story
This is a 302-page paperback book where Dr. William H. Marty with Troy Schmidt tells the stories of the Bible with explanations that will help the young readers understand what the stories are actually all about. The nineteen chapters are all set up in a similar fashion. They include:
- Who's who?
- Where are we?
- Interesting Stuff in the section
- Retelling of the Bible Stories of references to the Bible chapters
- What's the Point? (a summary)
Interspersed among those parts are black-and-white illustrations that bring the Bible stories to life. And occasionally, there are other key points pulled out in boxes for the readers to focus upon.
My Thoughts
The Whole Bible Story is a great resource for your young children as they navigate the Bible. I handed our copy of the book to our eight-year-old son to read during the review period. He finished reading it in a few days. I would say the book was a hit based upon that fact alone.
Our son shared the following when I asked him his thoughts: "The Whole Bible Story has details that can be hard to find in the Bible. I liked how there were funny parts at the beginning of each chapter. For example, 'Isaac - Abraham and Sarah's son born whey they were in their eighties and nineties!' I also liked the pop-ups or inserts where facts were shared. Specifically, I liked the part where Zacchaeus doesn't like big crowds."
After our son finished reading the book, I handed The Whole Bible Story to our six-year-old daughter, so she could read it, too. She is working through the book more slowly but loves to talk about what she has already read with me.
Our daughter told me, "I like the little gray parts (these are the facts pulled out for focus in each chapter)." One of the stories that stayed with her was the story of Jacob and Esau. "The story of Jacob and Esau shows us how to forgive others because Esau forgave Jacob," she said when I asked her what she learned from the book. "I think it is very interesting."
Personally, I begin reading any book that retells the Bible very thoughtfully. The written Word of God is best read in the Bible, but I do believe there are occasions when we can look elsewhere for assistance in bringing the Bible to life for our children. I will admit that, when I began reading The Whole Bible Story, I was unsure if I would share it with our children. In the Who's Who section, Adam and Eve are identified as "the first couple ever created; they run around naked," and Mesopotamia was identified as "some country that is hard to spell" (7). This caused me to pause and read through the first several chapters thoughtfully and carefully. It wasn't till after I had read chapter seven or eight, where we read about the judges and the kingdom under David, that I felt comfortable passing the book to our son.
If you are looking for a way to talk to your children about the stories in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, I would recommend you check out The Whole Bible Story. As with any book, you should preview it before you share The Whole Bible Story with your children, but I do feel the book will open up many discussions about the Bible and its events with your children. I can see this book being a useful part of our homeschooling journey for years to come.
