*Bible Review: ESV Grow! Bible

*ESV Grow! Bible.  Crossway, 2011, 1600 pages. 

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-12 and up

Bottom Line: The ESV Grow! Bible takes particular care to link the Old and New Testaments with its “Cross Connection” feature.

This edition of the English Standard Version is available in a choice of colors and cover designs, with a two-column, 9.5 point type.  The outstanding feature of Grow! is the “Cross Connection.”  There are 45 of these scattered through the text—brief expositions of the OT messianic prophesies and their fulfillment in Christ.  This helps create continuity between the testaments. Other in-text features include 4-U applications, 5 W questions and answers (Who-What-When-Why-Where) about Bible content, charts (e.g., days of creation, parables), and each petition of the Lord’s Prayer treated separately.  Preface and appendix materials include the family trees of Adam-Jacob, where to find references for personal situations, but also theological questions and topical issues, maps, diagrams, and glossary.  This is another cool feature that I haven’t seen elsewhere: a page on the Ten Commandments titled “You Shall” that contrasts the positive side of each Commandment that the negative implies.

Overall rating: 5  (out of 5)

Categories: Middle Grades, Christian, Bibles and Bible Stories, Starred Reviews

Cover image from amazon.com