Book Club: Book Review of The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find

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There are many storybook-style Bibles available to purchase for your younger children. With all these resources comes debate, too. Should we provide a watered-down version of the Bible for our children? The Bible is not a fictional story, so why create a "storybook" Bible? If you are a family planning to include storybook bibles on your bookshelves, or if you already have one or two, I have a recommendation for a new book to add to your collection. 

From the beloved Berenstain Bears of my own childhood, there is a new book for my own children. The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find is a relatively new publication from Zonderkidz. This hardcover, colorful book presents several stories from the Bible with short text and graphics featuring bears in place of the humans. 

If your children are already familiar with the Berenstain Bears, this will provide a fun way to bring the Bible into your reading time. In a typical search and find, children will be on the lookout for a number of images within the larger picture. As this is a hardcover, the idea is not to circle the pictures when found but merely to point them out to the parent or grandparent reading the book. 

Stories include: 

• The Creation 
• Noah's Ark
• Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt
• David as a shepherd
• Daniel in the lion's den
• The Birth of Jesus 
• The Storm at Sea
• The Last Supper (Passover supper) 

Ways to Use The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find

In addition to reading the text aloud with your child(ren) and searching for the objects listed, there are several ways in which you could use this particular storybook Bible. For example, find the story depicted in The Berenstain Bears' book with the one in your copy of the Bible. Look for passages or quotes from the Bible itself to share with your child. 

For the first set of pages depicting the Creation, create a mini-book with your child to depict the first seven days based on the Bible. Add the pictures from the Search and Find book to the mini-book on the appropriate days. Encourage your children to copy the pictures from the Search and Find book in their own mini-book to create a strong connection. 

On the pages that ask children to find certain numbers of objects, such as the ones showing David as a young shepherd, you could expand on the math lesson. Bring physical representation of the objects to the table. Do you have six mini apples or four toy ducks? You can collect the objects and work on addition and subtraction with them. Ask your child to add all the birds or all the plant objects (apples and flowers). 

Can you think of any other ways you could use this fun book in your home? Please share in the comments!

My Thoughts 

I really appreciate that the Search and Find included stories from both the Old and New Testaments. My only recommendation would be to add a few more. For example, maybe something from Proverbs and the Psalms from the Old Testament. And I would be very happy to see the Crucifixion and Resurrection depicted from the New Testament. Or maybe something from Acts or one of the letters. I understand that the Crucifixion is a heavy topic for 3 to 6-year-olds (the recommended age), but it is a very important part of the "story." 

For the pages illustrating Noah's Ark, I would have preferred the rainbow to have all the colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). This is something we personally emphasize in our household to distinguish God's rainbow from other depictions. And some may have problems with the fact that the book illustrates it in a typical storybook fashion and not based upon Biblical research. 

Our eight-year-old daughter was very happy to see this book arrive. She still reads the copies of The Berenstain Bears' books we have collected over the years. So even though this book is recommended for ages 3 to 6 years old, those who enjoy the Bears will also enjoy this Search and Find book. 

I would recommend this book to families with young children who wish to introduce the Bible to their children in a fun way. It is also a great supplement to the Bible readings you may already be doing with your children.