The Word of God for Kids

ESV Seek and Find Bible.  Crossway Bibles, 2010.  1, 888 pps.  Ages 5-up.

The Action Bible.  David C. Cook, New edition 2010.  Illustrated by Sergio Cariello.  752 pps.  Ages 9-up.

Some of you already know that my mother recently went to be with the Lord.  It was a process that, though excruciating for her and my family, was eye-opening in many ways.  For instance, part of the body’s shutting down process meant that she lost her ability to see and talk clearly fairly early on.  She didn’t lose her ability to listen until the very end.  And that meant we could talk to her and minister to her with hymns and Bible verses and just simple I love you’s during what must have been the most difficult time in her life.

I can’t help but wonder if this was a grace planned by the Lord.  At the very least, I have come away with a fresh appreciation for the power of the Word–and a new desire to teach it to my children.  As Janie pointed out to me recently, I am raising two children who will likely have the opportunity to minister to me (and probably others) in my last days and hours.  Will I give them the Word?  Will I arm them with that invisible strength that has sustained His people for all of time, in life and death?

We’ve already written about a number of resources to help you get God’s Word into your child’s mind and heart.  Today, I’ll add two more.

ESV seek and findFirst, my favorite Bible for budding readers: ESV Seek and Find Bible.  This is a real ESV Bible translation.  What makes it so extraordinary, though, is that it mixes short one- and two-page illustrated stories within the actual text.  It’s like a Bible with a story Bible inside it.  Many kids’ Bibles have explanations or bios alongside the text, but I haven’t seen any other with such robust and theologically rich storytelling.

This means that when your child reads the actual Bible text of Jonah’s life, he can also read an engaging and illustrated summary that will hit the high points for him.   Thus, it mimics the way a child would learn if an adult were reading the text to him and stopping to interpret–which is not only a natural way to learn about Bible stories, but also the perfect way to increase a child’s vocabulary and reading skills.  (For more on how to read hard books to kids, see my intro to our Pilgrim’s Progress Mission Adventure series.)  Of course, I haven’t read every single summary, but I have read quite a few, and all the ones I have read are very good.  Many Old Testament summaries help children look forward to Christ, instead of falling prey to the moralism so common in many story Bibles.  (And fyi, I found out this morning that Justin Taylor of The Gospel Coalition also recommends this as his ideal first Bible for kids…here’s his review if you’re interested in what he found compelling.)

action BibleSecond, The Action Bible for kids.  To begin with, this isn’t a Bible.  There are only bits and pieces of actual Bible text within, and you won’t see any of them in quotes.  For that reason it doesn’t compare to the selection above.  That’s what it’s not…but what is it?  I’d say it’s a picture book on steroids; essentially it’s a comic book treatment of a story Bible.  Sergio Cariello, the illustrator of the book, actually worked at Marvel and Caliber Press in earlier years, where he illustrated comic icons such as Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Captain America…the list goes on.  Personally, I don’t have any allegiance to comic books.  They aren’t my cup of tea.  But I like the fact that this story Bible uses the comic book form and its strengths–bold strokes of character and action, a willingness not to shy away from the reality of good and evil–to help make history come alive to kids, especially boys who might not otherwise spend an afternoon curled up with a Bible.

Just like any story Bible, you’ll find a focus on the events of Scripture at the expense of most of its arguments, poetry, etc.  For instance, your kid won’t find critical teaching like the Christian’s relationship to the law in Romans, or the meaning of the signs and symbols of the Old Testament.  But he will get a good sense of the flow of redemptive history, as well as how exciting and dynamic that history really is.

I don’t have any insight into Cariello’s personal faith tenets, and at 750 pages, the story’s theology is difficult to assess.  However, this one passed by three point test–how it presents the Creation/fall, redemption, and the new heaven and earth.  Adam and Eve are real people in a real place, and their fall is a real event which led to death and our cursed state even today.  Christ’s death on the cross is presented in its events more than its meaning, but Cariello uses the scene of The Last Supper to provide spiritual context for the events:

So Jesus makes a new covenant between God and people who believe in Jesus.  When we take the bread and cup in the name of Jesus, we remember that God sent His Son to save us from our sin and give us eternal life.  (The Action Bible, p. 623)

In the closing chapters, we are given a vision of the new heaven and new earth–both real places, not just spiritual nirvana.  I’m not particularly fond of the illustrations here; they seem a bit too cartoonish.  But nevertheless, they pass my theology test.

My guess is that Cariello expects lots of non-Christian and nominally Christian kids to read this Bible.  He ends with an altar call, “Jesus stands at the door and knocks.  Will you let him in?”  Which really sums up the Baptisty flavor I get from the entire text.  And while it’s not the approach I would have taken myself, I suspect that this will be a uniquely helpful resource for young boys and even adults who aren’t traditionally readers.

For more on how to choose Bibles and story Bibles for kids, see Buying Your First Story Bible or our roundup of posts about Bible Gifts for Kids.

What do you think about comic book presentations of the Bible?  Are they something you’d consider using in your own home?

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10 Comments

  1. Daisy on December 19, 2011 at 9:58 am

    We have the Action Bible. I have a theology degree and we are Reformed. I had some reservations about the Action Bible in the beginning but once I gave myself permission to see it as a story book rather than the Bible, I got over it.

    My 9yo son LOVES this book. He has read it cover to cover numerous times. And the best part is that he has come to me many times and said, “I didn’t know this was in the Bible. Where is it? I want to read the whole story.”

    So rather than being a substitute for reading Scripture (which was my fear), it has actually given him a greater desire to read Scripture.

  2. emily on December 19, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    Thanks for the thoughtful input, Daisy. I’m so glad that The Action Bible has been beneficial for your son. I think you’re right–the key is not to pretend it’s actually a Bible. When that line is drawn clearly, I think it could be very useful. I was thinking this morning that it might be something helpful for men’s prison ministry.

  3. Brandy on December 19, 2011 at 7:14 pm

    I love the Seek and Find Bible. We gave it to our daughter for Christmas last year and she reads it a lot. The summaries have inspired her to go and look further in the actual Scripture and it has been a valuable tool during our school day.

  4. melanie on January 4, 2012 at 9:03 am

    I had a quick question about the S&F Bible regarding the illustrations. Because our family prefers no images of Jesus it is hard to find children’s Bibles without them…does this one contain illustrations of our Lord?

    • emily on January 4, 2012 at 11:24 am

      Good question, Melanie. It does have pictures of Jesus. In fact, the illustrations are the only negative point to the book in my opinion. They can be a bit hokey, apart from the image of God issue. You might be better off to join us in the Make-Your-Own-Story-Bible this year. Then you could help your kids make the images you thought were suitable. (And I know you wouldn’t need our help in the artistic department!) https://redeemedreader.com/2012/01/2012-reading-challenge-and-bible-adventure/

  5. melanie on January 5, 2012 at 8:27 am

    Thanks Emily! I am considering joining the MYO Story Bible effort – what a fantastic idea. It may be the perfect fit for my art loving youngest son particularly as he may be on the path to homeschool this year.

  6. Laura on April 9, 2019 at 11:12 am

    Do you know why the Seek & Find Bible is now out of print? I couldn’t uncover the answer in 20ish minutes of light research. It seems odd that it would not last 10 years in print. Has the name changed? Has it become My Very First Holy Bible ESV translation published by Concordia Publishing House?

    • Betsy Farquhar on April 9, 2019 at 1:06 pm

      Oh, I hadn’t heard that it was out of print! That’s a shame because it was such a good one. We’ll have to check into the other one you mention and see what we can find out!

    • Betsy Farquhar on April 9, 2019 at 1:12 pm

      Hi Laura, It looks like the My Very First Holy Bible ESV from Concordia is NOT the same as the Seek-and-Find. There’s no mention of the stories that the Seek-and-Find Bible has throughout (which were part of what made that Bible so great!). Other than that, we’ll have to do some more digging to find out if the original Seek-and-Find is being published under a different name.

    • Betsy Farquhar on April 9, 2019 at 1:21 pm

      OK, Laura, I’ve got some possible answers. According to Crossway, the Seek-and-Find Bible became the Family Devotional Bible (also now out of print!). I believe you can still get the original Seek-and-Find at Christian Book and it looks there are some on amazon still. Crossway told me that the Following Jesus Bible (on the Crossway website) is similar to the Seek-and-Find Bible, but it’s geared to a slightly older audience–middle grades instead of early-mid elementary. Hope that helps!

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