In an attempt to help Annalivia reach adulthood with more retention of the Biblical stories than a vague remembrance that Exodus is after Genesis and that Jesus is mentioned in the second half of the Bible, we have been reading The Toddler's Bible. 
I have to say -- I highly recommend it. In fact, I wish I would have bought it a good year ago. The illustrations are very nice gentle depictions. The stories are VERY simplified and are each about four pages long with about two sentences per page. I personally think Annalivia could handle more detail, but I like that this format leaves lots of room for discussing and interpreting the stories. Each of them can be easily embellished, but they are also simple enough that each of them can be easily remembered by a little one.
Annalivia is particularly fascinated with the baby Moses story, which I suppose I should have predicted given that she is obsessed with babies and dolls. She loves to flip through the book and find the pictures of the baby Moses and then talks about every detail of the illustration.
In fact, what I like most about this book is that Annalivia is drawn to it. She wants me to read it to her several times a day and I often find her leafing through it on her own. It would be so exciting to me if my children could have a grounding in scripture that would encourage their faith. It really would be nice if they didn't have to wonder what the Bible said about something (even after four semesters of seminary Bible class) but instead knew it in their hearts.
6 comments:
How are the pictures in this bible? Are they more on the cartoonish side or more realistic? And how many stories are in it?
We have several "bibles" for toddlers, but I have not been satisfied with the illustrations. Then again, any exposure to the stories is good for my boys.
I actually like the illustrations and I consider myself to be pretty picky. To me, it doesn't look like cartoons as much as simplified people. I like that it looks like it is drawn in colored pencil -- the lines are fairly visible and the colors are soft. Everyone is distinctly caucasian, of course, but I did not find a toddlers bible that offered any alternative to that.
You can see a sample at this link, though I don't think it's necessarily a very good representation of the art in the book. Hope this helps. If you find another one that looks good, let me know!
Thanks for the information. I looked at the sample at the link you provided. I see that the same author did a preschoolers Bible, too. I think it would be more appropriate for my 4 year old, but my almost 2 year old may like the toddler one.
It's a shame that you couldn't find a good racial mix in any toddler bible though. Since my kids are bi-racial, I do have to take that into consideration sometimes, too.
We have that book too. And my kids also love it. It is such a hope and encouragement to me that they want me to read it to them.
I ordered the Toddler bible and the Preschool one, too. They came today. I am very pleased with them because they tell so many other stories that usually get skipped over when a children's bible is produced.
My sons were excited to see their new bibles, and they wanted to read them right away. My four-year-old was looking at some of the pictures and telling me what the story was about.
The preschool bible has a better racial diversity, btw.
A.Lin... I'm so glad that you are liking it. I will have to get a look at the preschool version. Thanks!
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