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My Very First Bible
God's wondrous acts are told through warm illustrations and simple words as stories introduce toddlers to Jonah, Noah, Joseph, Jesus, and others.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 31, 2005
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
James Harrison
316 books3 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 9, 2019
Arg grr rawr.
This came so close to being a good and useful book: Mayo's illustrations are gorgeous, for one thing. The text does fun, curvy things that encourage play and creativity. And the people in the illustrations are not white, which is a huge win. I also appreciated the invitations to engage the images ("can you count the animals," "what colors do you see") that weren't overbearing to the image themselves or too frequent such that it became a didactic book. They were just right.
But the text itself. The text was just terrible. I get that every kids' Bible needs to make decisions about what to include and what to take out and that a lot is going to end up on the cutting room floor, but the choices of stories here cut out every female possible. Ruth is gone, Esther is gone, even Eve and Mary are basically footnotes. The "New Testament" was just clips from the Gospels, which is silly because the Gospels are only four out of 27 books, and even kids should know stuff like Paul's travels throughout the Mediterranean and the creation of the Church and the heavenly Jerusalem--if we can tell them about Noah and how freaking everyone died, then we can at least reference Revelation. But the Gospels section included a few parables, which is cool, except that it then did all the theology for the reader, which is not. Prefacing a parable with "this means this" discourages theological consideration, which anyone who's ever led a children's moment recognizes kids do with ferocity.
This is such a beautiful book until you read the text; that's a terrible intro for kids to the wonder and complexity of Scripture. Looks at the pictures. Skip the text.
This came so close to being a good and useful book: Mayo's illustrations are gorgeous, for one thing. The text does fun, curvy things that encourage play and creativity. And the people in the illustrations are not white, which is a huge win. I also appreciated the invitations to engage the images ("can you count the animals," "what colors do you see") that weren't overbearing to the image themselves or too frequent such that it became a didactic book. They were just right.
But the text itself. The text was just terrible. I get that every kids' Bible needs to make decisions about what to include and what to take out and that a lot is going to end up on the cutting room floor, but the choices of stories here cut out every female possible. Ruth is gone, Esther is gone, even Eve and Mary are basically footnotes. The "New Testament" was just clips from the Gospels, which is silly because the Gospels are only four out of 27 books, and even kids should know stuff like Paul's travels throughout the Mediterranean and the creation of the Church and the heavenly Jerusalem--if we can tell them about Noah and how freaking everyone died, then we can at least reference Revelation. But the Gospels section included a few parables, which is cool, except that it then did all the theology for the reader, which is not. Prefacing a parable with "this means this" discourages theological consideration, which anyone who's ever led a children's moment recognizes kids do with ferocity.
This is such a beautiful book until you read the text; that's a terrible intro for kids to the wonder and complexity of Scripture. Looks at the pictures. Skip the text.
November 22, 2011
This is the BEST children's bible I've seen. The artwork is excellent. Most children's Bibles have artwork that is shamefully bad. But this is simply outstanding. The story selection is very limited, but of course, this is a very short Bible. My kids love looking through this one, and I too find it is my preferred story Bible.
June 7, 2022
EN review ↓
genel hatlarıyla İncil’i bilmek, temel anlatılara hakim olmak için güzel bir kaynak.
illüstrasyonlu kitaplara zaafım zaten ortada, bu kitabı da ondan hemencik okumak istemiştim. çizimleri beğendim diyebilirim.
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this is a good source book for learning Bible in generaly and mastering the basic stories.
you know, i got a thing for illustrated booyks, which is wh i want to read it right away.
genel hatlarıyla İncil’i bilmek, temel anlatılara hakim olmak için güzel bir kaynak.
illüstrasyonlu kitaplara zaafım zaten ortada, bu kitabı da ondan hemencik okumak istemiştim. çizimleri beğendim diyebilirim.
↓
this is a good source book for learning Bible in generaly and mastering the basic stories.
you know, i got a thing for illustrated booyks, which is wh i want to read it right away.
Read
June 2, 2020The illustrations are very nice, the representations are accurate (i.e., the people look like they are from the Middle East where these stories are set), the stories are extremely limited not just in selection but in depth. I know it's for children but...eh. Not sure what to give this one as a rating.
February 15, 2024
This DK book is an introduction to the Old Testament and New Testament Bible for toddlers and teens. The gentle illustrations convey the story magnificently and movingly.
March 23, 2024
I love the way of the book and thank you for the first time having this book
November 11, 2025
面向儿童的，对于成年人来说，故事写的太简单了
September 27, 2024
This book is excellent. My younger child can read it and understand it. When I read from the real bible, we always recap with this book first. My son likes the pictures in it as well. I really recommend it to anyone who has younger children.
December 11, 2015
I like this version - detailed enough to hit the major stories with names/places but basic enough for kids to understand (at pre-k level and up). Also has verses in it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews