"After that, boys and girls, God drowned all the people."

I always wondered why the most difficult and disturbing Bible stories are the ones we tell our children first:

In the story of Noah, God wiped out the population of the planet because they were so wicked. Jonah refused to obey God, so he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish. Daniel was thrown to the lions because he obeyed God. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were expelled from paradise on Earth and we're still feeling the effects.

Then I figured out why -- it must be the ANIMALS! Kids love animals!

Noah's ark...every animal in the world -- TWICE! Jonah...there's a great big awesome whale (actually, it's a fish, but don't tell the kids)! Daniel...LIONS! Adam & Eve...Eek! Snakes are scary!

Seriously, though, this is a concern for parents who are earnestly trying to help their children develop spiritually. The Bible is a complex and difficult narrative that is not easily explained by a "moral at the end of the story." As a friend of ours put it recently, the Bible is not a children's book!

When it came time for Elisa and I to choose a Bible for our children, we looked at a lot of different ones. I compared version after version of Bibles intended for children and ultimately settled on the Usborne Children's Bible. We didn't want the Bible to be scary for our kids, but we didn't want to sugar-coat the stories, either. The Usborne Children's Bible finds a balance between those two. Here's how the story of Noah starts...

"After many years, God looked at the world he had made and was sad. The people were bad, they hurt each other and did not listen to him anymore. God decided to flood the whole world so that everybody in it would drown."

We've found through reading this Bible with our kids that the stories make sense, and the difficulties are not left out, which makes for great discussions. It's rare to find a children's Bible that tells the whole story of Jonah, including how it ends:

"Jonah sat outside the city and waited for it to be destroyed. He was very hot and very cross. He wanted God to destroy Ninevah, but God saw that the people had turned to him and he saved the city. 'Jonah, I love all the people in Ninevah,' said God, 'and I am everywhere. You can't run away from me.' And Jonah knew that this was true."

Technically, this isn't really a Bible but rather a Bible storybook. It contains 44 stories from the Old and New Testaments (no Psalms or Proverbs, though). It is not a recognized Bible translation like NIV or NRSV, but it is a reasonable paraphrase in the language of young children. It keeps them interested and explains things in ways they can understand, but without glossing over the messy parts.

For those of you interested in helping your kids get a theological head start, the Usborne Children's Bible is a really good way to do it.

Comments

[Shannon]

We read through this book last year after hearing you talk about it. The stories were a good length and I was able to read the same story every day for a week without getting tired of it. Excellent book - thanks for your recommendation!

[Melissa Beth]

I ordered one today! Thanks!

[Melissa Beth]

I got my copy in, and really do love the text, illustrations, and the layout. My only beef is the size. It's pretty big for Jack to carry to church, but the pros far outweigh that aspect. Thanks again for the recommendation!