The Bible is the word of God and the bread of life. We want children to love the words
in it and grow to know Jesus through it. Therefore, its worth taking some time to
consider which version of the bible is going to help your children to meet God most
easily.
Guidelines on choosing a Bible to read:
1. Think about when and how you are going to read it, and with what age/grouping of
child(ren)…

If it is for reading regularly with one or two children you may want to choose
one with individual stories.
 If it is for reading in a group and for contact/access to the whole Bible then you
would want to choose one with the actual Bible books, chapters and verses.
 If it is for reading aloud then you would probably want to choose something like
the Lion Storyteller Bible which has separate stories and is scripted to make it
suitable and fun to read aloud.
 If it is for children to read themselves then you need something like the
NLT ’Hands-on Bible’ which has notes and articles and all sorts of snippets for
maintaining the interest and application of the Bible text in an appropriate way
for children(7+) themselves and helps them to understand what they are
reading.
 If the children are very young then I would choose one with the pictures in a
style the child(ren) you know will appreciate, they vary in their artwork, a lot!
And check that the written form suits your purpose too.
 If you love the AV or RSV or NIV or other version then find a copy that has the
font in a size you can read and maybe some illustrations, and share your
enjoyment and enthusiasm that’s the most important thing of all!
 Make sure you are happy with the selection of stories chosen if it is stories from
the bible rather than a full bible. What’s been put it? What’s been left out?
What impression of God, Jesus, God’s people will this leave children with? You
don’t want children to have to ‘unlearn’ things when they are older.
The following bibles are available to look at or borrow from CCYP whilst you make up
your mind:
God’s Story The Bible told as one story
Karyn Henley Kingsway
Gospel of John – NCV – International Children’s
Authentic
Bible The version children can read and
understand
Gospel of Mark – NCV – International Children’s
Authentic
Bible The version children can read and
understand
Graphic Bible – The whole story from Genesis to Jeff Anderson, Lion
Revelation in cartoon style
Mike Maddoz
Hands on Bible (NLT New Living Translation) – maps, Tyndale
concordance, where to turn, family devotions(2 copies)
Holy Bible International Children’s Bible (ICB ) Pink bible for 7- Thomas Nelson
11s, dictionary of people, places, full colour maps
Holy Bible International Children’s Bible (New Century Version) 40 Authentic
pages of maps and illustrations, dictionary, short sentences,
modern vocab for 6-12s
Holy Bible Kids Study Bible (King James Version KJV) – full color Hendrickson
map, dictionary/concordance, words of Christ in red, book
introductions, memory verses, cameos
Illustrated study Bible for Kids (Holman Christian Standard Bible) – HBOI
large easy to read, colour reconstructions, family trees, quiet
time, concordance, dictionary
My First Bible
Leena
Lane, Barnabas
Gillian
Chapman
My first Message – A devotional bible for kids for Eugene
H. Navpress
4 to 8 (2 copies)
Peterson
My Storytime Bible
R. Boyle & M. Barnabas
Florian
My very first bible – retold for the very young
Lois Rock
Lion Children’s
New Light Children’s Bible (New International
Hodder & Stoughton
Reader’s Version)
NIV Adventure Bible (New International Version) articles, word Zonderkidz.com
treasure, did you know?, people in bible times, hands-on activities
to apply biblcial truths 9-12s
Rainbow Good News Bible (GNB) quick search,
www.collins.co.uk
colour illustrations, line drawings, easy-to-use
maps
The Beginner’s Bible
Ill Kelly Pulley Zonderkidz
The Explorer’s Bible for Kids (NKJV – New King James Version) – Thomas Nelson
cameos of personalities, bible lessons, definitions, bible notes,
action maps, concordance (8-12s)
The Gospel of Mark - (NIV) The Story of Jesus
www.storykeepers.com
Christ (The Story Keepers)
The Lion Bible for children
MurrayWatts Lion Children’s
The Lion Day-by-day Bible – Story and prayer for Mary Joslin
Lion Children’s
every day of the year
Just for fun, check out the Bible in 50 words:
God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split,
Jacob fooled, Joseph ruled, Bush talked, Moses balked;
Pharaoh plagued, People walked. Sea divided, Tablets guided,
Promise landed. Saul freaked, David peeked,
Prophets warned, Jesus born.
God walked, Love talked, Anger crucified, Hope died.
Love rose, Spirit flamed, Word spread, God remained.