Precious Moments Story Book Bible

The first thing I noticed about the Precious Moments Storybook Bible was how beautiful the illustrations are. Like all Precious Moments books the drawings are soft, peaceful and charming. I really really wanted to love this book because of the drawings and how adorable they appeared, but in fact I was very disappointed.

The Precious Moments Storybook Bible contains a selection of "Favorite Bible Classics", I don't know whose favorites they are but once you get past the "Creation", "Adam and  Eve" and "Noah's Ark" I don't think all the stories are presented in a very child-friendly manner, unless you're trying to scare your child. My five year old daughter refused to even look at the book again after reading "Joseph Sold into Slavery" and hearing about his brothers wanting to kill him and smearing goat's blood on him. (For the record, I wasn't the one reading it to her or I would have stopped.) In fact she has asked me to "get rid of it" and doesn't even want it in her room. She does, however, love her Zonderkidz The Beginner's Bible.

Parts of the book are well done and child-friendly, living up to the illustrations but then there are parts that I find are just too explicit for the young audience that this book is aimed at. I can't really make an age recommendation since it all depends on what age you want your child to learn about brothers killing brothers and Jesus being stabbed with a spear to see if he's really dead.

On the positive side there is a nice section in the front of the book for your family tree and at the end there are some child-friendly hymns, prayers and a place for a child to write their own bedtime prayer.

This book will not be staying on our bookshelf, I will honor my daughter's wishes and find a good home for it, just not ours.

Disclosure: 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

The Story of Easter by Gwen Ellis Illustrated by Steve Smallman

Read and Share: The Story of Easter  is written to explain the story behind Easter to young children, ages 4-8. It starts with Jesus and his followers heading to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and covers The Last Supper, Jesus' betrayal by Judas, his crucifiction, resurrection and ascent to Heaven.

My four year old daughter enjoyed this book quite a bit. It is written in a way that holds a child's attention and is easy for them to understand. The artwork is colorful and entertaining while helping to explain the story.
There are little question and information boxes on the bottom of each page which add to the storytelling experience. My four year old was not very interested in them but a slightly older child might be more inclined to try to answer the questions. The end of the book has several pictures from the story shown in a random order so the child can test their memory by putting them in chronological order.
A great addition to the book is the accompanying DVD which compliments the book perfectly. It is educational and the stories are easy for young children to understand. The animation is simple, keeping the focus on the stories.
The only thing I personally would have liked to see was a little more explanation of what Passover is. In my opinion the story seemed to start a little abruptly for a child who may not have already learned about Passover.
Overall my daughter and I really enjoyed this book and DVD, it is a very welcome addition to our ever growing library and is often included in our bedtime story rotation.



Disclaimer: I was provided a a copy of this book by Thomas Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.