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So you're thinking about gifting a storybook Bible...

It might feel a bit early to think about Christmas shopping, but if you are starting to plan soon, and just in case your brainstorms involve gifting a storybook Bible to a child in your life, here's a review of my favorite ones!

First, a question. What's my criteria? There are several things I look for when I meet a new Bible storybook for children.

Inclusive language.

What pronouns do the authors use to talk about God? Does the angel announce goodwill to all "men" or all "humankind"? Are the followers of Jesus referred to as men, or "sisters and brothers," or "friends," leaving room for gender nonbinary followers of Jesus? Inclusive language is important to convey the expansiveness of Godself and God's love for all creation. When God is consistently referred to using traditionally masculine pronouns (he/him/his), it sends the message that God's masculine characteristics are the most important or that God IS male. Why is that a problem? Well, to start with, God is not human, and so is not hemmed in by socially constructed understandings of gender. Then there's the Bible: there are multiple places in Scripture where God is talked about as a mother (Isaiah 66:13), as one who gives birth (Deuteronomy 32:18), as a mother hen (Matthew 23:37), and as someone who raises children (Hosea 11:3-4). Reducing God's being to simplistic human terms is not fair to a God who created the cosmos, loves expansively, and cannot be put in a box.

Depiction of Jesus' crucifixion.

Y'all, there is some REALLY bad theology out there surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Sadly, it is often reflected, and encouraged in storybook Bibles for young children. I wrote my whole MDiv thesis around this (and probably should write a couple articles...stay tuned) and was actually appalled by how many awful renderings of a central event of Christianity were perpetrated in books purporting to be for kids. Embellishments of the violence, focus on the blood spilled, blaming Jewish people for Jesus' death, saying that God turned God's face away and left Jesus...those ways of telling this important story do not do justice to children's social-emotional development, the sociopolitical realities of crucifixion in the Roman Empire, and the experiences of Jewish people hurt by anti-Semitism in Christian tradition and culture. We must--and CAN!--do better.

Artwork.

The illustrations are a big part of storybook Bibles, and one of the main aspects that sets story Bibles apart from children's Bibles. Storybook Bibles do not include direct Scripture references, and focus on some stories rather than the entirety of the Bible. They are not translations of the Bible (you can get an NRSV, NIV, CEB children's Bibles) but they paraphrase the story for clarity for young readers. The artwork in storybook Bibles can be quite impactful. In evaluating artwork, I check for a few things:

1. Jesus isn't white. Cuz he wasn't northern European, he was from Galilee in Judea. Really, not many people in the Bible should be depicted as an Anglo person with blonde hair and blue eyes.

2. Women are depicted respectfully and justly--that they are not always in the kitchen or have children in tow and that they are included among Jesus' followers. Representation matters.

3. Artwork that conveys the theological perspective. Art can help drive home points in the Biblical story that words might not, and can enliven children's imaginations to understand how they can live alongside these stories and inhabit the legacy of these stories of faith. For example, this image from the 1992 Augsburg Storybook Bible drastically changed how I think about the temptation of Jesus.

Now on to the reviews.

Children of God Bible Storybook

Desmond M. Tutu, 2010

"Dear Child of God, Do you know that God loves you?...Do what is RIGHT, be KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, and be FRIENDS WITH GOD." I can just hear Desmond Tutu's laughing voice as he reads these stories to young children. Delightful rephrasings like "In the beginning,God's love bubbled over..." accompanied by lovely, diverse illustrations make me love this. Each story is accompanied by a brief, accessible prayer in a child's voice. Unfortunately, these stories do not use inclusive language, and God is mostly referred to using traditionally masculine pronouns (he/him/his). The skin color of Jesus and other characters varies depending on which illustrator's artwork is featured for that story, but some of the stories do have a light-peach-skinned Jesus. Overall, this is the kind of Storybook Bible I'd use for bedtime reading rather than a Sunday school classroom or family Bible study. This is a good gift, but there are others to grow on.

Buy Children of God here.

Spark Story Bible

Augsburg, 2009

This is a good storybook Bible. 150 stories from the Old and New Testaments are illustrated with delightful cartoon images. This book features a larger font size and space between lines to make reading easier for kiddos. Gender-neutral language for God is used (yay!) The illustrations of people generally have olive- or brown-toned skin. The Spark Story Bible definitely takes liberties with the paraphrasing, but the interpretations are generally benign. I find the added dialogue colloquial and engaging for kiddos. For every story there is a parting thought or question tucked into the illustration.

Buy Spark Story Bible here.

Deep Blue Bible Storybook

Cokesbury, 2016

This is a solid, accessible Bible story book. Features gender-neutral language for God and colorful computer-generated illustrations that engage children's imaginations. Also, it is part of a series of Deep Blue Bibles that feature the same characters that age with the target audience of each book. For children's Bibles, the Deep Blue Kids Bible is my favorite and what I have encouraged my children's ministry to use. A perk of the Deep Blue series is that there is Sunday school curriculum to go along with these books, contributing to an immersive experience for any child whose church home also uses Deep Blue. Also, check out this informative video from my friend Brittany Sky, one of the authors of the Deep Blue Bible Storybook. Unfortunately, this edition of the Deep Blue Bible Storybook is out of production (some are still available on Amazon)...but the Celebrate Wonder editions of Deep Blue comes out this year and will surely be great! I will update this post when I receive my copy.

Buy Celebrate Wonder here.

Shine On: A Story Bible

MennoMedia, 2014

This is a favorite of mine because it meets several needs. There's gorgeous illustrations in various styles, depicting people and scenes through a variety of media. There are invitations to explore the stories and themes further following reading, sometimes bringing in historical or archaeological information. Connect prompts invite the reader to reflect on how they relate to the story, to investigate how their church teaches these stories or to wonder at the impact of the story on their lives. God is gender-neutral and inclusive language for groups of people is generally observed. I love the wonder questions that follow each story, leading readers to use the phrase "I wonder..." as they respond to this story. Overall, this is beautifully done.

Buy Shine On here.

Growing in God's Love

John Knox, 2018

I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. This Bible storybook has it all--beautiful illustrations by a diverse group of authors. Retellings of Bible stories including poetry and prose. Inclusive language for God and humans. All the "classic" Bible stories and then some, making sure to emphasize stories of Biblical women. Engaging Hear, See, Act questions that prompt children and their grown-ups to action. This Bible story book is divided into themed sections that primarily follow the order of stories found in Scripture. For example, there are sections entitled "Songs and Wise Sayings" (Wisdom literature), "Listening for God" (prophetic books), "Parables" (Jesus' teachings from Matthew, Mark and Luke), and "Healings and Miracles" (the healings and miracles, of course! from Jesus' ministry).

Here's some of the beautiful artwork included alongside these stories:

Full disclosure, I contributed the Endings and Beginnings section dealing with Holy Week. I absolutely loved working on this book, so I know the research that it takes to investigate different translations, interpretations and teachings about Scripture so precious as Jesus' arrest, death, crucifixion and resurrection. The editors, Lib Caldwell and Carol Werheim, were wonderful to work with, as they pushed all the writers to write for children but not give too much detail, so children's wonder and imagination could be stimulated.

I have given this book as a gift to multiple children, within my congregation and to friends' children. I think this is a Bible storybook to grow on. These stories do not moralize the Bible stories, so readers will be able to come back to the story over and over and have the freedom to interpret these special stories again.

Buy Growing in God's Love here.

What other questions do you have about storybook Bibles?

Did you have a story Bible as you were growing up? What did you appreciate? What do you wish it included?

What other criteria would you use to evaluate story Bibles?

Am I missing one you love? Or you want to know my opinion on one you saw in a store? Feel free to contact me or comment below!