Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible By Joanna Rivard and Tim Penner

It's hard to capture an active three year old's attention. However, through a combination of engaging pictures, conversational dialogue, and timeless truth The Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible  had my little one begging for "just one more story" (and another and another).

My kids both give "lotsa thumbs up" to the pictures which they loved! Aside from cute and kid-friendly, they helped maintain interest when my three year old struggles with lingering speech issues. They complement and enrich the story from cover to cover.

The story itself was perfect for our three year old and, I believe, the preschool through kindergarten age really is the perfect focus range for this edition.
This is an age.range we haven't  really found well covered in the past. While we love The Jesus Storybook Bible it's still a little too advanced for our youngest but he's also informed us  he's too big for the ultra simplified infant one. Relying more on paraphrase and a story-telling emphasis, Tiny Truths uses conversational language that is familiar to convey  the stories and truth so familiar to the church.  Even my oldest was drawn in by the way each story was phrased with little questions here and there to encourage thoughtfulness and engagement.

Physically, I appreciated the book's break down. The index is a great addition and I love how the Old to New Testament transition gets it's own page in the text for easier referencing.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

NIRV Seek and Explore Bible

With a bright, colourful cover, and colour-coded margins the NIRV Seek and Explore Bible is designed to capture the eye and create interest (not to mention help parents find it again once the bible enters into the  black hole of a child's bedroom).

The entire bible is colour coded making referencing much easier and gives indecisive kids some help deciding where to look (for instance my son's in a blue phase guess where we're reading). I particularly like the study notes with the wayee characters which are informative and age appropriate with great conversation starters and cool facts (I honestly had no idea a sling and stone could move so fast!). As always the maps were a big hit and I was impressed with the balance between fun,child-friendly pictures and accuracy of the map.

I do question the durability of a paperback vs a hardcover for energetic kids. However, paperback does make the pages easier to manipulate and less of a projectile weapon for those loving brotherly moments. I also miss having a topical index because, let's face it, kids are the champs when it comes to asking questions and the list of key stories just wasn't robust enough for what my 5 year old is asking.  In the end, it feels like a good trade off for this age and stage. I'm also pleased with the readability of this translation. The NIRV definitely feels accessible to younger kids who are still struggling to grasp the nuances of English because, let's face it, there's enough in here to wrestle through without language complicating matters.

With all the fun artwork and readability this edition is a great option for pre-readers through to junior high students.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.