A Child's First Bible

Produced by Reader's Digest, A Child's First Bible is a unique and kid-friendly book of Bible stories. The illustrations are bright, childlike, and interesting; the text, by Sally Lloyd-Jones, is lively and brief enough for most toddlers. Each Bible story takes up one page and includes sidebars of important points or questions to ponder.

The stories covered are: Creation, the Flood, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, the parting of the Red Sea, Ruth and Naomi, David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, Jonah and the big fish, Mary and Gabriel, the shepherds and angels who went to baby Jesus, the story of the first Christmas, Peter and the fishermen, Jesus walking on water, Jesus feeding the crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus healing the lame man, the Prodigal Son, and Jesus rising.

Examples of the sidebars: For Jesus walking on water, "Jesus is stronger than whatever scares us! What do you get scared of?" and for the Flood: "God keeps his promises! Do you know all the colors of the rainbow?"

There is also an introduction, which explains that the Bible is "like a letter from God to you and me. It tells the story of God's love for us. We read about God and his friends and the adventures they went on. The Bible tells us that God wants us to be his friends, too."

What I Like: First of all, the cover! The board book has a cutout in the center, which is filled with heavy see-through plastic that has a pond and pond-creatures printed on it. Beneath that, we see a child and a rainbow. The cover alone inspires my 18 month old to study this book frequently. (And the cover has proved durable to being tossed around and chewed on.) My daughter also loves the colorful illustrations inside. I also appreciate the effective introduction to this book, and all the interactive sidebars. The retelling of the Bible stories is also much better than many, many children's Bibles.

What I dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: 3 - 6.

Publishing Info: Reader's Digest, 2001; ISBN 1575848163 ; board book; $12.99

Buy Now at Amazon for $11.04.

Special Info: You may wish to visit the author's website.