The Beginning Reader's Bible

The Beginning Reader's Bible Illustrated by Marijke ten Cate is a vividly illustrated book. The bible stories are truly captured in each brush stroke. The layout of the Beginning Reader's Bible is a wonderful concept. It gives children an opportunity to take a passage of scripture, then find ways to 'act' upon it. An example is in the very first story, the story of Creation. It gives the scripture, it goes on to give a verse to memorize, it gives an activity to complete, and it gives a short prayer that you can pray that correlates with the scripture. The stories compiled in this bible are from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This children's bible really stands out from other children's bibles because it lays out a reading chart and allows the child to note the date the passage was read, but more importantly, it gives the plan of salvation, which is not always so common in a child's bible. There is a memory verse chart, lyrics to a few common children's songs, and other really helpful Bible background information.

Now, having said all this, it may be difficult for some parents to get past the actual translation this children's bible uses. There are many very common passages of scripture that would be considered timeless or well known, and this translation contains many differences that may be hard to get past. For example, the first two lines of Psalm 23 read as, "The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need."

Overall, this bible may have been more effective if the passages weren't set up as actual scripture, but rather, the telling of the bible story.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Booksneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.