While I went to church every week growing up, and I also attended a Catholic school through 6th grade, reading the Bible was not something that was emphasized. I want my kids to have a greater understanding of the Bible and to learn the stories in the Bible at an earlier age.
One book that I recently discovered that helps bring Bible stories to life for younger kids is The Story Travelers Bible created by Tracey Madder and illustrated by Tim Crecelius. This book is so fun!
About The Story Travelers Bible
This 354 page book includes 85 Bible stories. But each Bible story is woven around the story of three kids, Lana, Griffin, and Munch, who are attending a Vacation Bible School. They find a red minibus and step inside only to be transported back to Biblical times where they observe the Bible stories as they happen.
What We Loved About The Story Travelers Bible
Each page is so visually appealing. Even young children who can’t read yet will be captivated by the pictures and the design.
My youngest (6 years old) found it much more interesting to read the Bible story as a story rather than reading directly from the Bible itself. She also loved that there were additional facts and details included in the sidebar. For instance, in the story of Adam and Eve, there is a long sidebar that gives facts about Mesopotamia.
There are also other sidebars throughout the book that give additional information:
Think About It! This section gives a Bible verse and then expounds on it. For instance, in the story of Noah, there is the Biblical verse Genesis 6:13-14 – God said to Noah, “Build a large boat from cypress wood.” Then, the section below talks about Noah’s faith. He was not living near any major bodies of water, but he still had faith and built the boat.
Park Here! This section gives a Bible verse for your child to memorize.
Build Your Faith! Character development is the focus of this section. In the story of Jacob and Esau, the Build Your Faith section focuses on being kinder to friends and siblings and apologizing for any transgressions.
Overall, the girls and I loved this book. In fact, we’ve put our religious curriculum on hold to use this for a few months as our religion. This book is an excellent way to bring Bible stories to life for young kids. The sidebars enrich the book and bring a deeper understanding to the stories.
I highly recommend this book!
Disclosure: I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. in return for my honest opinion.
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