The Children's Illustrated Bible

Excellent illustrated bible for children! It's not a big le in the sense of the entire bi le as an adult buble would be with every scripture, but rather key stories. Definitely worth the buy, I love the maps and illustrations. Good addition to our bible library!

This book is amazing. It explains everything so perfectly, even for an adult. My daughter loves it!

This larger edition of the Children's Illustrated Bible has large pictures plus print that is big enough to be very easily read. (The smaller book, ISBN number 0-7894-5331-2, is about 2/3 the size of this book.) The pictures are realistic and not the silly cortoon-like figures you see in some children's bibles. I have read through a few of the stories, and they are short, precise and very well written. Interesting background information is given and illistrated in the margins. The high quality of the writting, the background information and the pictures deserve a 5-star rating. However, the book is not perfect. For instance, Hasting has Jesus teaching the Lord's prayer as "Our Lord in heaven..."

I have been a catechist, teaching elementary school age children for over four years. I use this book extensively in my sessions with the kids, because they listen...intently. Rather than many dumbed-down, Disneyesque versions of children's Bibles that I have seen, and rather than the somewhat lame materials offered by our church, the Children's Illustrated Bible connects with kids. It does not insult their intelligence, but enhances it. The rich liturgies of the Old and New Testaments are brought to life with vivid portraiture and detailed factual explanation. Want to know more about life in the Middle East in biblical times? It's there. Want to know what type of wood might have been used in the Ark? Or what mountain range Ararat belongs to? My students, ages 5-9, are harsh critics. When something isn't real, or interesting, or meaningful, they simply turn off. Too many of the standard cut, color and paste exercises last five minutes with them. But when I pull this book out to read the wonderful stories of Noah, Moses, the Flight from Egypt, Jesus calming the sea, and so forth - the kids listen with mouths agape. They strain their necks to see the beautiful illustrations and pictures.This Bible is an excellent gift for god-children, for nieces and nephews, for your kids. Even if you are not religious, your kids will benefit deeply from hearing and reading the wonderful tales of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and step up their cultural literacy significantly.

An important part of our nighttime routine is our evening devotion and The Children's Illustrated Bible has been an important tool. This Bible has translated God's word into story-like form for children, but it is easy to find the Book/Chapter reference from the Bible. This Bible also gives the child the feel of the times, like showing plants, utencils, and statues that are mentioned in the story. This book has broken the Bible into short stories and user guides. A must have in every family!

One great difficulty in reading Bible stories to children is the wealth of unfamiliar things, ideas, and terms. The Dorling Kindersley retellings are not only short and elegant to read, but unfamiliar items are illustrated and explained right on the page. No searching around for the picture or definition of a "lulag" or "shekel." This makes the DK version especially "user-friendly" and understandable by kids. The wealth of scholar/consultants from different religious traditions assures that it authoritative and equally useful to kids of different religious backgrounds. The DK Children's Bible has become my gift of choice for newborns, whether the parents are dedicated Christians or only those who want their kids to see the Bible as great literature. A truly wonderful book.

Finally, a bible that bridges the gap between adult and children's bibles. The illustrations and text are interesting and accurate, it's a wonderful bible for the older children to read on their own, my son is almost ten and loves it. My seven year old daughter loves to have me read the stories and talk about the pictures, she is especially interested in the photographs along the sides of the pages showing actual carpenter tools, clothes, jewelery, foods, etc. that are similar to the ones used during biblical times. You will not find any cartoon figures or blond Saviors in this book! I highly recommend it, even if you don't have any children.