Also by this author: The Promise and the Light: A Christmas Retelling, The Friend Who Forgives Family Bible Devotional: 15 Days Exploring the Story of Peter, The Songs of a Warrior: Saul and David: A Retelling, The Songs of a Warrior, The Friend Who Forgives Family Bible Devotional: 15 Days Exploring the Story of Peter (Devotions on the cross and forgiveness, for Lent and Easter, ... at home.) (Tales That Tell the Truth), Any Time, Any Place, Any Prayer Family Bible Devotional: 15 Days Exploring How We Can Talk with God
Published by Good Book Company on May 1, 2025
Genres: Children's, Bible Stories
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Equipping tweens to read and understand the Bible on their own.
Reading the Bible on your own can be intimidating. But it doesn't have to be! This quick, simple guide will equip and inspire kids 8+ to explore God's word for themselves.
Features:
- Explanations of how the Bible fits together
- Brief introductions to the various books and genres
- A timeline of the whole Bible story, showing the big picture
- Maps
- Information about key characters and a fact file about Jesus
- Definitions of key wordsThis attractive booklet will provide children aged 8+ with the basic knowledge they need in order to navigate the Bible and see that they can read and enjoy the Bible independently.
This brief, staple-bound book introduces kids to the basics of reading and understanding the Bible. Each double page spread covers a different topic, such as finding your way around the Bible, understanding who Jesus is, and what the Old and New Testaments are about. The book also introduces some significant biblical figures, answers common questions, directs kids to particular Bible passages to learn more about something, and includes a timeline of the redemptive story throughout Scripture. Katy Morgan encourages kids to feel confident exploring the Bible on their own, and she assures them that it is okay to not understand everything yet.
This is a quick, easy read, and it can help kids better understand the Bible and know where to start, if they want to develop a personal Bible-reading habit. However, the font is sometimes extremely small. The small font size means that everything fits in the two-page layout for each section, but the downside of this is that less engaged readers are likely to skim past stuff without really reading it.
Also, there are a few cases where I thought the author’s brevity worked against her. On the Bible dictionary page, she says about Jesus’s sacrifice, “…If we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, we already have a perfect relationship with God the Father, and we don’t need to do anything else.” I agree with what she really means, which is that we don’t have to do anything else to earn our salvation. However, the phrasing implies that you can’t improve your relationship with God, and that you can just believe in Jesus and then live however you want. This sentence needed more nuance and explanation.
A Short Guide to the Bible: Exploring the Most Important Book You’ll Ever Read is a helpful resource for kids who want to learn about the Bible, but who feel overwhelmed when they try to read it. This book can help kids understand and pursue reading the Bible for themselves, and it would be a nice gift for a child who has recently professed faith or been baptized. Also, because of its low price point and the option for bulk discounts from the publisher, this could also be a great giveaway for kids in a church class.