The Best Bible for Kids
Our Grandson: Duke
Just a couple of months ago our grandson, Duke, got baptized.
He’d been talking about it for months, but his parents weren’t sure he was ready. At 7 years old, they knew he stood a possibility of not remembering. And though he could spout the why’s of baptism in his typical-Duke-intelligent-logic, they weren’t convinced his heart was ready.
As his pleas became more and more insistent, my daughter, Elizabeth, tried to put him off a little longer.
“We want to wait until the whole family can be here.”
“But I want to get baptized now!”
“We want to pick a time when we can have a party to celebrate afterwards.”
“But I want to get baptized now!”
The more Elizabeth drug her feet, the more Duke dug in. Finally he won his parents over when he blurted,
“Jesus said to follow Him and be baptized! And I want to obey Him and be baptized!”
They set the date immediately. Yup, their son needed to be given permission to obey the leading and urging of the Spirit in his life.
As the day approached, they asked me if I knew the best Bible for young readers. They wanted to present Duke with his own Bible at his baptism and then help him establish a habit of daily Bible reading.
I spent a good long time researching Bibles and reading levels. I added criteria I considered important to Duke— like something kind of masculine he could carry to church with him, not too big and cumbersome, serious enough looking to appease Duke’s literal leanings, and easy enough to read that he wouldn’t grow weary and then bored.
I spent hours looking! His baptism came and went and I was still looking. There are pretty purple Bibles galore. Pink ones with ballerinas. Cartoon graphics touting adventure on every page.
But a Bible that looks “real” and appeals to a boy? Hard to find!
Finally, I sent for 3 bibles I thought might work:
Once Amazon had delivered all three Bibles, I invited Duke over to my house, fixed him a tasty snack, and laid the bibles out so he analyze each one.
Then I asked him 3 questions:
- Which of these Bibles do you think most appeals to a boy?
- Which one do you like best?
And…
3. Why?
Watching Duke was like observing a scientist at work. Intense, focused, intelligent, and very confident of his opinion!
The NIrV giant print was very appealing. He liked the 14 pt font and the spacing between sentences. Early readers often have trouble when letters are crammed in too close together. But no, he shook his head, carrying that big book around would prove too cumbersome.
The Adventure Bible appealed to me. On the front cover is a treasure map and throughout the text there are captivating kid-level full-color studies. The writers and editors did an excellent job of finding factoids that interest kids while the graphics people laid it out like a ride at Disneyland.
Colorful! Fun! Fascinating!
Duke was not impressed. In his opinion, all that color and all those graphics and tidbits just interrupted the reading way too much. Words like confusing, distracting, too busy came pouring out of his mouth in an almost irritated tone.
Clearly we have a minimalist in the making!
Finally, the winner…
Hands down, the front-runner for the Duke Award in the category of the most boy-friendly Bible is…
The International Children’s Bible
Here’s why: The International Children’s Bible is the first legitimate Bible translation created specifically for kids. The 10 pt. type isn’t huge but it’s a lot bigger than the typical 8 pt. of adult Bibles.
The pictures are colorful and creative but not goofy— and men-in-the-making apparently do not like goofy!
But what Duke liked best about this Bible were the “Key Verse Highlights” sprinkled throughout and indexed in the front. Kids can look up topics that intrigue them: anger, angels, bravery, protection, purpose, strength. For a beginning Bible student, the idea that he could look up topics on his own made this Bible seem more legitimate than the other versions to Duke.
To really appreciate this Bible you’ve got to read it. Take Genesis 1:1-5
The Beginning of the World
1 In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. 2 The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s Spirit was moving over the water.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good. So he divided the light from the darkness. 5 God named the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.
Isn’t this great? First of all, the chapter title: simple, to the point, true. Then the short sentences. And the short paragraphs. Add to that the fact that this is not a paraphrase, but a real, bonafide, respected translation.
I’m sold. And so is Duke. In fact, as soon as I get this post written and up, he gets the Bible as my thanks for his expertise. And I plan to buy several of these to give as gifts to kids I care about. Because really, what could be better than putting an easy-to-read, well designed Bible in the hands of a young man or woman who will some day be a leader to the next generation of Jesus followers?
And this: a nationwide Barna Group study conducted in 2015 on behalf of the American Bible Society found that only about 3 percent of teenagers read the Bible every day.
That, my dear parents, is just plain sad.
If you want to see your son or daughter fall in love with the Scriptures, and find in these words the One who loves them like no other, this is a great start.
Your kids might not be quite so analytical and opinionated as my grandson, but you really can’t go wrong by heading his advice. I have the feeling this boy will be leading the charge to make sure that when his generation hits the teenage years, a whole lot more than 3% will be delving into God’s Word every morning.
With a heart longing to see a generation of Jesus-following leaders,
Diane