The Beginning Reader's Bible
Published by Thomas Nelson
Illustrated by Marijke ten Cate
Illustrated by Marijke ten Cate
Book Description:
This exceptionally illustrated Bible storybook allows children to read the story, pray to God, and grow closer to Him. Using actual Bible text from the International Children's Bible as well as prayers, memory verses, and fun activities, children will love this large format and be engrossed in the intricate detail of the illustrations. Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments are included and stories are accompanied by a prayer for the child to pray, a verse to memorize, and a fun activity to help them grow.
In all honesty, this review was a struggle for me. I completely agree that it is exceptionally illustrated it is a gorgeous storybook to look at. The pictures almost come alive as you're reading it making you feel like you could just step right into the scenes. I love the illustrations! The rest of the book, not so much. I do like that it pulls key stories of the Bible and present them in a way and language that appeals to children, but as the mother of a beginning reader (what I consider kindergarten through second grade) the language used was at times, a bit more difficult. I understand that some words cannot be altered without losing part of the translation, but other parts just seemed to make me say why would they put that there? For example, in the Story of Jesus' Birth (because that is such a wonderful barometer to use) we all know that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. Not only does it say God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin who lived in Nazareth...... later it says Mary said to the angel, 'How will this happen? I am a virgin!' Now, I don't know about your kids, but this one line would open up a big ol' can of worms in my house about mommy, what's a virgin? I just feel that the wrong emphasis was placed on the wording for the target age group. I'm also not quite sure why they chose to tell of the angels and shepherds, but not of the wise men. No mention of them anywhere. I don't really care for the translation used for this book and saying it's a Bible is misleading since it is a collection of selected stories form the Bible. The translation of the Lord's Prayer really put me off in that I think that teaching a child the proper translation with parents answering any questions they may not understand. What makes a prayer so meaningful is the knowledge of the words to be spoken as they are meant to be, not some modern day viewpoint of the lines.
Another thing that has me quite stumped there is a table of contents to help you find specific stories, but no where in the book could I find page numbers???? So although I may want to read Jesus is Born on page 96, but without page numbers I have to just keep flipping through the book until I find it. There also seemed to be some editing errors that went unnoticed. I can't give specific examples without actual page numbers to reference, but in the story of Noah it says "All that was left was Noah and whatwas with him in the boat." I saw another one like this somewhere in the book and had to think seriously if maybe it is written this way and I'm just crazy.
There are scripture verses and prayers written within each story which I really liked, as well as the prayers and songs that complete the end of the book. I think a retail price of $19.99 is reasonable for a book of this quality, but the attention to detail is lacking in the editing department. Would that stop me from buying the book? Probably not given the beautiful work by the illustrator Marijke ten Cate I find myself picking up the book to just look through it at the lovely pictures.
This exceptionally illustrated Bible storybook allows children to read the story, pray to God, and grow closer to Him. Using actual Bible text from the International Children's Bible as well as prayers, memory verses, and fun activities, children will love this large format and be engrossed in the intricate detail of the illustrations. Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments are included and stories are accompanied by a prayer for the child to pray, a verse to memorize, and a fun activity to help them grow.
In all honesty, this review was a struggle for me. I completely agree that it is exceptionally illustrated it is a gorgeous storybook to look at. The pictures almost come alive as you're reading it making you feel like you could just step right into the scenes. I love the illustrations! The rest of the book, not so much. I do like that it pulls key stories of the Bible and present them in a way and language that appeals to children, but as the mother of a beginning reader (what I consider kindergarten through second grade) the language used was at times, a bit more difficult. I understand that some words cannot be altered without losing part of the translation, but other parts just seemed to make me say why would they put that there? For example, in the Story of Jesus' Birth (because that is such a wonderful barometer to use) we all know that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary. Not only does it say God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin who lived in Nazareth...... later it says Mary said to the angel, 'How will this happen? I am a virgin!' Now, I don't know about your kids, but this one line would open up a big ol' can of worms in my house about mommy, what's a virgin? I just feel that the wrong emphasis was placed on the wording for the target age group. I'm also not quite sure why they chose to tell of the angels and shepherds, but not of the wise men. No mention of them anywhere. I don't really care for the translation used for this book and saying it's a Bible is misleading since it is a collection of selected stories form the Bible. The translation of the Lord's Prayer really put me off in that I think that teaching a child the proper translation with parents answering any questions they may not understand. What makes a prayer so meaningful is the knowledge of the words to be spoken as they are meant to be, not some modern day viewpoint of the lines.
Another thing that has me quite stumped there is a table of contents to help you find specific stories, but no where in the book could I find page numbers???? So although I may want to read Jesus is Born on page 96, but without page numbers I have to just keep flipping through the book until I find it. There also seemed to be some editing errors that went unnoticed. I can't give specific examples without actual page numbers to reference, but in the story of Noah it says "All that was left was Noah and whatwas with him in the boat." I saw another one like this somewhere in the book and had to think seriously if maybe it is written this way and I'm just crazy.
There are scripture verses and prayers written within each story which I really liked, as well as the prayers and songs that complete the end of the book. I think a retail price of $19.99 is reasonable for a book of this quality, but the attention to detail is lacking in the editing department. Would that stop me from buying the book? Probably not given the beautiful work by the illustrator Marijke ten Cate I find myself picking up the book to just look through it at the lovely pictures.
I am a perfectionist. I know, it's a huge fault of mine not just because it drives everyone around me crazy, but because many times I see something as it should be, not how it's presented and that tarnishes the experience for me. I think that is what happened with this book the cover, in all it's beauty, drew me right in with anticipation and then the bubble was burst with the imperfections within the pages.
Note: I was sent complimentary copy for review purposes only. This review has not been monetarily compensated. The review was my honest opinion and views and not influenced by the sponsor in any way.
