The Golden Children's Bible: A Full-Color Bible for Kids

by Anonymous, Joseph A. Grispino, Samuel Terrien

The children's Bible loved by generations of families!

This beloved edition of the world’s greatest book, beautifully illustrated and written in a clear, simple style for children, has been approved by an editorial board consisting of leaders from the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish faiths. It consists of six parts: parts one through four drawn from the Old Testament, parts five and six from the New Testament. Each page is alive with stories of every sort of people, their words and deeds, and notated with the books of the Bible they are taken from. . . a perfect introduction to the Bible for young people.

Genres: Childrens, Religion, Christian, Christianity, History, Nonfiction, Spirituality

510 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 3 out of 5]

an enjoyable introduction to the Bible, if you're into that kind of thing. bogs down a bit during the new testament. the vivid, technicolor illustrations are what have stuck with me over the years; i think they are pretty much the visual template for all of my most memorable dreams. for that, i thank you Golden Children's Bible! i still bring this one down from the shelf from time to time, if only to appreciate the cinematic imagery.

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so mom and dad bought this one for me. i'm not sure why - when i was growing up, dad was an atheist and mom thought God was a floaty energy type being. but it definitely came from the terrible twosome because young mark monday apparently had to sign the nameplate for them:



i am assuming that "insighned" actually meant "unsigned". must be, right? i'm also sorta disappointed that i neglected to put down an actual date.

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and now here is my current Favorite Awesome Review, brought to you by Moe, for this book right here!

I was curious about Adam and Eve and mom said this book has some awesome stories in it. It's not a book I'm going to read all the way through because it is already making me crazy with all the boring stuff. I read about Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, and the Tower of Babel. These stories can be good but some are sad. I liked the story of the serpent in the garden the best. I thought the story of Babel was sad because all of these people wanted to make it up all the way to god and actually achieve a goal, but god ruined it for everybody. I would like them all working together. So far, the Christian god isn't very nice in these stories. I thought he was nice, but now he's all "You should do everything my way instead of yours."

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this for my seven year old, we enjoy reading it together!

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift when I was a child. Even though my faith has change courses I hang on to this book because of the memories of reading it as a child. I loved the illustrations then and they are still striking.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my very favorite Children's Bible. I have read quite a few, and gave the others away. This is very good, very sound, without bias. It is an Illustrated Bible, not a book of Bible stories. I read it with my 5 and 7 year old boys every morning during Morning Time.

[Moe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was curious about Adam and Eve and mom said this book has some awesome stories in it. It's not a book I'm going to read all the way through because it is already making me crazy with all the boring stuff. I read about Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, and the Tower of Babel. These stories can be good but some are sad. I liked the story of the serpent in the garden the best. I thought the story of Babel was sad because all of these people wanted to make it up all the way to god and actually achieve a goal, but god ruined it for everybody. I would like them all working together. So far, the Christian god isn't very nice in these stories. I thought he was nice, but now he's all "You should do everything my way instead of yours."

[Cindy DeLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. My mom got it for my sister and I when we were only a few years old. I read it on my own from cover to cover during fifth grade. I couldn't get enough of the wonderful stories. I remember being disappointed when it ended, I wanted to read more. My mom would have claimed we were Catholic even though we seldom went to church. As an adult, I still have this book, but even more important - I have Jesus in my heart! :o)

[Steve Dustcircle · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the juicy stories about murder, rape and child-stoning are left out. Incomplete.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This edition has a warm bookplate saying that it belongs to me and was a gift from the "Easter Bunny." I remember that Easter, and I was actually thrilled to get this hefty book that made a resonant thump when I flicked it. It was the biggest book I had ever owned, and I was determined to read it. I remember laying on my brass daybed for hours on boring Sunday afternoons, those days before Nintendo moved in and there were only 36 channels on tv from which to choose. I interrupted my bouts of reading with deep inhalations of the new-book smell, nose pressed to the crease in the center of the book, imagining how it would feel to have read the entire bible. I almost made it....looking back through the stories, I can clearly remember which ones, about 3/4ths of the way in, that I skipped, thinking that they weren't really important stories anyway. The following Christmas, I asked Aunt Nancy for a new, teenaged version of the bible "The Precious Moments Bible" with cute pastel pictures in it, with real-life numbers on thin, amazingly opaque papers. Details of my first moments caressing that bible are just as vivid. Anyway, I think the replacement is why I never fully reached my ambitious goal of reading this in its entirety, but I thought that the stories were fascinating, especially because of the gaudy illustrations.

Now that it has piqued my son's curiosity and has been taken off the neglected bookshelf, I realize with a bit of shame that I never questioned the stories at all, never read with a critical eye, until I was 13. My son, on the other hand, critiqued it right away, pointing out plot holes and interpreted the stories messages with ease, even though he's only 9. Perhaps the fact that his goal was not to get through it, but to enjoy it, that led to such different experiences. Or maybe it's because it was presented to me as a history book instead of a book of myths.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book when I was young, and see it as the world's cheesiest book ever, now. But I'd probably recommend it to Christian children.

[Connie Rossini · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my 100-word-or-less recommendations on my blog, Contemplative Homeschool:

Beautiful, traditional language. The Bible, slightly edited–not a book of paraphrased Bible stories. Artwork inspired by the masters. Perfect for narrations. Large, durable format. Nothing inappropriate for kids. The best children’s Bible I’ve seen–and I’ve seen a lot! A classic. Great Christmas gift for your grandkids or godchild.

Two criticisms: 1) Blond-haired Jesus. I view this as inculturation. 2) Follows the Protestant canon. You’ll have to supplement for the seven missing books.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this Bible. It was given to me by my aunt for my birthday in 1975, according to the inscription at the front of the book, and it has had a cherished place on my bookshelf ever since. I remember my mom reading to me from this book when I was a child. Now, I have read to my daughter from the same book. Wonderful tellings of Bible stories, with wonderful illustrations to go along with them. This is a keeper for me.

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite childhood Bible growing up. Interesting compilation by Protestant, Catholic and Jewish scholars. Fairly accurate to the Scriptures

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with this Bible - I remember reading it on Sundays when I first learned to read. The picture of Sampson and Delilah really sticks in my mind!

[Shelly Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the New International Bible in one year (first time in my life); the most integral lesson linking the old & new testament is in order to truly honor GOD (YAWEH) individual's must repent and embrace HIS Sovereign Love & Grace. Also the ability to accept the oneness in Spirit with GOD when giving up secular sinful ways and living a sacredly reverant life. The oneness in Spirit is given in example for me when Jesus Christ enters and GOD in carnate sacrifices his life to cover the plethora of sin in the world offering eternal life to those who accept and most importantly repent. I will admit too, that much of Jesus' life is a mystery, this is where further devotional and meditation with God come in. GOD is our very breadth and creator of everything.💖

[Melissa]

This Bible was a chronological story of the Bible slightly condensed (mainly the epistles in the NT, after a tiny summary of why this write wrote this and to whom only a section of the letter was included). 1965 Copyright obvious by using "ass" instead of "donkey" and quite often, but it was a read aloud so I just randomly picked up because we read through different Children's Bibles so I just substituted out loud. Text is not dumbed down for kids. Not for the keep pile.

[Clint the Cool Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good children’s bible. The golden-haired, blue-eyed Jesus is kind of goofy. But others here have remarked enough on that already. Just kind of shows the old-fashioned / possibly casually racist sensibilities of the time this was written. (1965?) Looking beyond that, it’s all still really good art though. Very realistic and cool-looking.

[Genette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This children's Bible is one of my favorite references for understanding the basics of biblical context. I honestly believe that anyone of any religious leaning who wants to understand western media should use this or a similar text to learn the symbolism and themes prevalent in our culture.

[Telps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually my first Bible. It was an enjoyable read.

[Kristen Baddeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful language, based on the King James Bible. It is simplified just the right amount!

[Ben Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Bible stories. I was afraid to start reading the real deal so this was a perfect place to start.

[Jennifer Flath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very colorful Children Bible with beautiful illustrations.

[R]

p 85

[Leo Saraja · Rating 5 out of 5]

100/10

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother died just as 2018 was beginning. I decided to move to Puerto Rico to take care of my father who had never lived alone after 53 years of living with my Mom. Here in this house on the island, there are many relics of the past, not the least of which is the Children's Bible. This tome is extremely monstrous in heft and size. Despite being called The Children's Bible, it really is just a mass of biblical excerpts with artistic depictions of the biblical narrative. I remember reading from this book to/with my baby brother, Teddy. He was in his primary years and I was an adolescent, 16 years his senior. When I arrived in Puerto Rico, Teddy had died 6 months before Mom, and so even though this was one of the few books I could find in storage, I really dared not touch it because there was just too much history attached to this book. It's been five years, and I recently found it again, so I decided to read it. Clearly, I'm trying to contextualize what this book means to me, but I think that every adult that reads this book and is familiar with it, may have similar attachments to personal stories that will nuance this religious work. As for me, some of these stories still horrify me, but I'm a believer so I also find hope here. I know that this is an ambiguous review for some, but welcome to my world. This will serve as #11 on my over 5 yrs TBR.

[SJ L · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Bible growing up, probably due to the awesome paintings. It was this book that introduced me to Sampson. I would read that story over and over and go wow, this is cool but what the heck does this have to do with the g-o-d?

Still don't have an answer, but still think the illustrations are awesome.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems that if you need to read some Bible stories with kids the only choices you have are either cartoony, goofy, silly versions, or versions with lofty language that are just plain boring. This was the latter. Basically, we got what we needed from it, and now we are done. I don't think we will spend much time revisiting this version.

[Lea Berryreadinbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

These illustrations are the ones you remember from your childhood. The language is close to a Scripture reading without "dumbing it down." Perfect for a regular Bible reading with children.