This summer, our family has been using The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones (Zonderkidz, 2007) for our nightly devotional times. I have a 7 year-old and a 10 year-old. The subtitle of the book is "Every story whispers his name." That's a little misleading. In fact, every story SHOUTS his name. Lloyd-Jones does a masterful job of weaving the Gospel (God's Secret Rescue Plan, as she calls it) into every Bible story in a way that kids (and their parents) can easily see how the whole of the Bible tells the story of Christ.
Of course, as the title states, this is a storybook Bible. In other words, the stories are selective and paraphrased. Lloyd-Jones does no violence to the original meaning of the text, nor does she impose fictional thoughts into the essence of the Bible story. Rather, she is faithful to the message of God's Word and even is able to color many of the stories with humor and joy --the story of the Tower of Babel had my kids rolling! The illustrations by Jago are bright and engaging for the kids, too.
The stories are short. Most nights, the kids have begged me to read two. Although my 5th grader has enjoyed this storybook Bible, he's probably a little older than the intended audience. It's perfect for my second grader. If you have late preschoolers through elementary-age kids and you want them to have a grasp of centrality of Christ in Scripture, you need this book!
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