The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos is my absolute favorite Bible storybook for kids. It is geared toward children 6 years old on up to adults, although my children as young as 3 years old have enjoyed listening to the stories alongside their siblings. This is not a picture book, although there are a few pictures scattered throughout the 382 page book. Instead, children are allowed to use their imaginations as they listen to Bible stories from both the Old and New Testament.
I really appreciate the author’s ability to tie in doctrinal truths and explain strange customs all while sharing the stories of the Bible and pointing everything back to Christ. While little ones will enjoy the stories, older children will learn a great deal about biblical history, doctrine and their own need for Christ. All the stories are in chronological order which helps with the understanding of Bible history.
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Most chapters take me about 15 minutes to read aloud to my children with a few more minutes for discussing what we read. Some of the longer chapters are divided up into smaller sections which makes it easier to stop mid-way through a story.
Many Bibles for children skip over difficult stories, leave out smaller events and neglect to show how Old Testament stories point to Christ. The Child’s Story Bible is the exception. Full of sound doctrine and repeatedly pointing the reader to the work of Christ, this Bible storybook is one I highly recommend.
I’ll be using The Child’s Story Bible in the Bible curriculum I am currently working on. It’s really more of a Bible instruction check-list that will cover Bible stories, scripture memorization and catechism work…but more about that at a later time!
I love this Bible Story Book as well. I started reading with my three year old who’s now almost four. I have her draw a picture of what we read afterward and she writes in a title. We put all the pictures in a binder and someday will have her very own illustrated bible binder.
I’ve been using this story bible for my 3-5 yo olds for about a year now, and it is the most excellent story bible I have encountered. I want to immplement this in our childrens ministry class on Sunday’s, for ages 4-7/8ish, with also adding in catechism, scripture recitation, and Paul ling in a few ideas from Charlotte masons educational methods (narration, picture study, nature walk, to name a few). Since this post was several years ago, did you ever have success with writing a curriculum using Vos’ book? Thanks in advance!