Egermeier's Bible Story Book

by Elsie Egermeier, Clive Uptton (Illustrator), Arlene S. Hall (Editor)

Beloved for generations, Egermeier's Bible Story Book has sold millions of copies around the world and continues to bring Bible stories to life for all ages. This updated version carries on an outstanding tradition of excellence. Stories from the Old and New Testaments are told in chronological order, helping readers journey through a complete narrative of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Egermeier's Bible Story Book includes: 312 biblically accurate stories from the Old and New Testaments written in an engaging, easy-to-understand, traditional style that is free of doctrinal bias 122 vibrant, full-color illustrations Scripture references, questions and answers for each story to help reinforce Bible learning Helpful extra background information, including How We Got the Bible, Books of the Bible and Their History, Interesting Facts About the Bible, and more Full-color map section Egermeier's Bible Story Book is the perfect choice for families, a valuable resource for children s pastors and ministry workers, and a trustworthy guide for anyone exploring the Bible for the first time.

Genres: Christian, Childrens, Religion, Christianity, Reference, Devotional, Spirituality

648 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Elsie Egermeier had a great love for children. As a young teen, she developed an interest in writing that later became a calling from God. When she wrote the Christian classic, Egermeier’s® Bible Story Book, she tested what she wrote by reading it to children to be sure they understood and enjoyed the stories.

Reviews

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a thorough and easy to read, chronological order of events in time. Great reading as if being there, novel style/ conversational etc.....Helpful addition to the Bible itself.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. So you're beyond silly little children's storybook Bibles with cartoonish illustrations and bullet points of story lines and parables. You want a good bit more meat to your scripture and Bible stories, but your kiddo is not quite read to be set loose in a youth Bible of full scripture. The next best step is either The Golden Children's Bible or Egermeier's Bible Story Book . While the Golden Children's Bible is full of classic illustrations much like Egermeier it is very large in size, a good lap size and Egermeier is more toward a standard size perfect for a young reader reading alone to them-self or aloud. Egermeier has endured many childhood generations and while I'm not sure if it was in my Sunday School class, since 1963 many classes have experience it and since the new edition in 2007 even more families and kids can experience it.

312 stories from the Old Testament to the New Testament, 122 full-color illustrations to bring the Bible stories to life. Complete with maps, thorough Questions and Answers, and helpful Bible Information... this book without addition makes a pretty good Bible study class alone! It is easy to see why many boxed curriculums recommend it.

[Sincerae Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading these stories when I was a child. I enjoyed lugging this book around. It has over 700 pages with stories and resources at the end including questions, colorful maps, and old black and white photographs of Palestine. I still have my copy. The cover on the copy I own is different. The edition that I have was published in 1963.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t actually finished this yet but I love what I’ve read so far and will be reading this with my kids when they’re just a little older.

Again, I really appreciate when books stay close to the Bible and just simplify it for children. This seems to do that and well.

The illustrations aren’t on every page, but there’s one for every story. Stories are a nice length for bedtime.

I would recommend taking a look at this one for your family!

Ages: 5 - 10

For a carefully curated Bible stories list: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

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[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent Bible as kind of the "next level up" from some of the storybook Bibles aimed at younger kids. There are a lot of stories in it -- even reading two a day it was hard to finish in one school year. I thought the selection of stories was thorough, while keeping the subject matter at an appropriate level for elementary ages, though of course there is still plenty of death and violence, given the scope.

However, I noticed that this was first published in the 1920s, and it shows in some of the language used. The word "heathen" is used frequently in both testaments to describe people groups, and while it may not have carried the negative connotations then that it does now, it's not a word I want my children to get into the habit of using for people. Also, in the section on Jeremiah, a Cushite official is referred to as a "kind Negro."

As has been the norm with children's Bibles from this time, the pictures of the people in the stories were obviously based on White people of European descent. But even more troubling, in the story of Joseph, the text actually describes him as "fair-skinned" at one point, which I didn't see any mention of in the actual Bible chapter the story came from, and so it was a deliberate word choice from the author. So, given the datedness and white-washing in this version, I think we're going to be using something else next time. (The version I have was last updated in 1969, so I can't speak to whether the 2008 version has changed any of this.)

[Hawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific step up from the Jesus story book bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Our kids had so much of the latter memorized and were eager for more depth and detail to the stories but still not ready for the magnitude of the original bible in all its fullness (ok, and rape and incest and drama!)...

This set of bible stories is a much longer and more in depth stepping block towards the full bible in its entirety. Although sometimes a bit awkwardly phrased, it manages to break up stories from the Bible into very manageable chunks which we have read together as a family over breakfast for over a year. It has been a blessing for us.

I’d recommend this to families seeking to read the Bible together who have young elementary aged children. We have been reading this with an 8, 6, and almost 2 year old. (Of course, mostly oriented towards the older two hearing and listening to it!)

[Justine Trokey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This particular bible for kids is a really thorough and easy to read aloud book. The passages aren't too long either. The illustrations were ok, and few. We did enjoy it for our family bible reading.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to read to my child before bed. It is very inclusive of biblical narrative. I was not a huge fan of the writing style, because there were statements like: “How they must have loved him!” and “How glad they were!” very often throughout the book. I found that awkward, but the content was good. Compared to a lot of Bible Story books out there, this one is high quality.

[Jennifer Fertig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone looking for a read-aloud Bible storybook I would encourage to read this one. Great for kids of all ages.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good version for children. We read it over the course of the year.

[Jan Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first bible that impacted me, and, moreover, my children had it, too, when they were little. While Goodreads is showing the 1969 edition, mine is the revised 1955 edition; originally published 1922, or, at least, that's the copyright date. Arlene S. Hall rewrote the stories for the 1955 edition.

As a child I thought the stories from the NT were relatively boring compared to those of the Hebrew Bible, which was, in this case, the OT, I guess, as this is a Christian publication. Other than that I don't have a clear memory. I probably read all of it much as I read the Greek mythology book at the time, but I knew there was a difference. These are stories deemed suitable for children at that time.

The illustrations in my copy are conventionally 1950s pious and, I think, sometimes histrionic, posed. The illustrator is not given, but the illustrations are labeled: ©Providence Lithograph Company. Here's one I found on Bing, but my edition's corresponding print is in black and white, and the expressions on the people's faces are more readable, compared to this colorized version.

Joshua Talks to the People

[Vicki Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful storybook of the Bible for all ages with illustrations that are bold and colorful. The stories are biblically accurate with verses cited and not dumbed down like many others like it. A must read for families!

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Old Testament was pretty well done. The New Testament had issues with a lack of attention to scriptural details and a LOT of denominational influence such that the stories weren't always accurate.

[Elizabeth]

I am reading this book with my daughter and so far it is captivating, true to scripture, and easy enough for a preschooler to understand.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy is a big old hardcover. I did enjoy the stories, except for a couple things that I recall wondering about the theology of; I can't remember why.

[Vanessa Rivero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a bedtime story book for my 12 year old daughter. Although this book does not teach any theological truths, it is a good book in that it thoroughly retells every story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with questions in the back for each title chapter for comprehension. An excellent book to become familiar with all the stories and events of the Bible. Each title chapter of the book has the book, chapter and verses of the Bible from where the story comes from for reference. My daughter and I enjoyed reading it together and is a good book to add to your Bible storybook collection for kids.

[Jamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Egermeier’s Bible Story Book is a very thorough retelling of the classic, historical Bible stories. The writing style is for older kids, as the 568 pages are filled top to bottom with Elsie Egermeier’s descriptive words. It is an easily understandable book, with 122 beautiful full page illustrations by Clive Uptton. If you are looking for a more advanced kid’s Bible for your older child, this one will do the trick.

[Jennifer Hodges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and understand

My husband has a difficult time staying on task and concentrating, this book made his experience easy to read, easy to understand and life changing.
The questions and answers at the end are a very nice way to bring everything you learn together as a bible lesson review.

[Brian Koser]

Read with the girls. This is the Bible story book I remember my parents reading when I was a boy.

I like the Old Testament retellings better than the New; too much, "How happy Mary must have felt!" "How sad Paul must have felt!" We have the Golden Children's Bible and Walter Wangerin, Jr.'s The Bible for Children, so we'll be reading one of those next.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I was "too old" when my parents bought this for my little brother, I was captivated by the beautiful & realistic, full page illustrations in this Bible. They captured my imagination & I found myself curious. I am not convinced that I would have finished my "adult" Bible that same year had I not had these gorgeous illustrations bidding me enter their "worlds".

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not realize that this is actually a children’s book, but it put the stories in chronological order - not all of the stories, but most of them - it was very simplified and gave a unique perspective. I especially appreciated the story of Paul. His travels and story were much clearer to me.

[Eric L. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible review for all ages...

This book, while written for the young, is a wonderful review for all ages. The summary resources at the end of the book provides valuable content for Sunday School and youth programs.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. Great for reading with our kids, LOTS of pictures. Some of the goriest details were summarized well, but it was intricate and still close to the actual Bible stories we know. My husband and I learned from this book as well, especially finding ourselves encouraged to read the actual Bible stories to "fact check" against what we were reading, or hearing this and it being different than what we remembered, to find what we remembered might have been skewed. A lot of fun to read as a family.

[Kieron Roberson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incredibly dense and dry -- far more than the original bible passages. This was a part of my daughter's 1st grade sonlight curriculum that we skipped for most of the year as neither of us could sit through the stories.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Bible for older children who have outgrown preschool type Bibles but aren’t quite ready for a full Bible. I also think it’s a great Bible for new adult Christians who want to become familiar with many Biblical accounts before tackling a full Bible.

[Jerry C. Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It belonged to my grandmother and she used it when she taught a Sunday school class. She would be happy to know that I read the entire book. She was almost 103 when she passed.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for learning the Bible stories. This is a hardcover book and great to have around the house and good for collectors.

[Jennifer Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book with great illustrations that my husband had when he was a child and was thrilled to find still in print.

[Craig Schlossin]

Great Bible stories for children, bed time or any time.

[Starry Da Mocha Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book when I was almost 9.

It was a good book full of amazing illustrations!