Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them… Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God…” Luke 18:15-17
PERHAPS THE LARGEST GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHIC BELONGING TO CHRIST’S KINGDOM PRESENTLY ON EARTH ARE THE WORLD’S TWO BILLION CHILDREN. Stop for just a moment and ponder that breathtaking reality. I cannot speak for you, but I have never thought about the sheer volume of members of God’s kingdom from that perspective until this very moment. Speaking of “Christianity” in the broadest of terms, children make up approximately half of God’s global kingdom on earth today. What a joyful realization! Surely, the children bring joy to our Lord and Savior who loves them so.
Parents and adult believers shoulder a blessed responsibility to bring up young hearts to know the Lord. In the digital age, countless resources are available to families and children, some more helpful than others. We are delighted to share 10 favorite resources that have blessed our children as they come to know the transformational story of God and his people. Our hope and daily prayer is that our children will grow to know Jesus and continue in his path. Perhaps some of these resources may bless your family as well. Note that we are not able to endorse everything in each of these resources. As with any resource, please use discretion.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4
Train up a child in the way he should go;
Proverbs 22:6
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Bible Storybook, published by Twenty-First Century Christian, is a classic children’s Bible story resource with 150 stories from Genesis to Revelation. Carolyn Larsen carefully retells key stories about Biblical people and events. We find our children are captivated by the detailed stories and beautiful classic European-style art. While we realize the biblical characters were not Caucasian, and we tell our children this, we have found the artwork to be more interesting to our children than some of the more cartoon-style art. Our children have been through this book several times already cover to cover and are beginning to grasp the story and chronology of scripture. Our family appreciates the publisher’s historical association with Restoration churches of Christ which differentiates this book from the dozens of others available.
The Power Bible, published by Green Egg Media, is a K-POP influenced anime-style Bible story resource that took me by complete surprise. It was originally published in Korean, but is now available in English, which is exciting to me because my church has a significant Korean membership. Based on the NASB 1995 text, the entire Biblical narrative is summarized in a captivating, and at times, hilarious comic-book style that keeps kids flipping the pages even before they can read. The stories are largely literal including numerous direct quotes from the NASB text, with some very informal embellishments sprinkled throughout. There are some things I don’t love about this resource, but the bottom-line is no other print resource has been more engaging for our kids than this one. Here are a few considerations…
- Some will not relate to the anime style artwork. The style didn’t immediately resonate with me, but I’ve come to enjoy it.
- Some of the stories depict a bit more of the graphic and violent details than I would like to introduce to young children. This is not necessarily a negative as they are attempting to stick to the literal storyline as much as possible. The Bible is not a children’s novel. Parents may want to use discretion with some of these or at least be prepared to have conversations about what is happening. Our family has skipped some of the more violent Old Testament books until our kids (now 3 and 6) get older.
- There are a few places where I disagree with the interpretation. Generally, I find it to be incredibly accurate. I appreciated the straightforward telling of the first gospel sermon including a direct quote from Acts 2:38. This surprised me as the publisher has Calvinistic ties and I’m accustomed to such resources omitting details that seem to clash with their particular theological slant. This resource does not have that problem. However, there are places, such as in the story of Jephthah where his daughter is shown on the alter, and I’m not 100% sure if a literal interpretation is correct there. For better or worse, know that the authors tend to take a literal approach.
Super Book, produced by CBN, is an amazing streaming Bible Story series! I still remember growing up with Bible Stories on VHS (remember, the kind you had to rewind)? Super Book tells Bible stories in a brilliant way. They always begin with modern day normal kids, and a not-so-normal robot friend. At some point in the episode, the kids are transported miraculously by a powerful book back to a different time and culture where they literally are injected in to the Bible story. They interact with the characters and experience firsthand the story. There is always an application they can take back to their modern culture when they return at the end of the episode. What I love about this is this is exactly what it is like for modern readers to read scripture–it is truly a cross-cultural experience! But parents will want to take caution as the Evangelical theology and doctrine has some inaccuracies in places. This resource is a huge hit with our kids. It’s available on just about every digital platform (Apple/Google/Amazon), including apps for games and activities! Most episodes are available free. If you sign up for the $$$ subscription, you get access to all episodes digitally, plus you get bonus content monthly that is like a TV show for kids including games, activities, Bible teaching, and short stories.
The Bible App for Kids, published by YouVersion, is an interactive Bible story Mobile app featuring 41 Bible stories available in more than 65 languages on Android, Apple, and Kindle. Each story features simple artwork, a short story, optional narration and background music, related activities, and fun interactive animations. Our kids love this app! While I was grabbing the link, I discovered there is a whole collection of videos available for free as well.
ESV Family Devotional Bible, published by Crossway (out of print), is a full text Bible that includes 130 full-page, full-color illustrations with accompanying paraphrases of key stories followed by discussion questions for the family and a key verse for memorization. While many Bible storybooks for children make the mistake of essentially retelling isolated events and attempting to extract some moral-lesson, Crossway takes a more thoughtful approach. Each story ends with a connection to the gospel helping the family grasp the “big picture” of God and his people and relate each event to God’s redemption purpose. Unfortunately, I found myself frequently having to edit a sentence or two that added reformed theology, which is to be expected with anything from Crossway. Since it’s now out of print, you may have to find it used.
The Biggest Story Verse Cards, published by Crossway, is a set of 104 Old and New Testament Memory Verse Cards for grades K-5 with illustrations from The Biggest Story Bible Storybook. What’s amazing is these cards essentially tell the Bible story in 104 verses that are easy to remember! Our family recently picked up this newly released product and is incorporating in to our family devotional time. While we use the CSB with our kids during their younger years, we thought for memorization it would be best to use a more literal translation which will form their foundation for a lifetime. While these are excellent, we found Crossway has notably omitted pretty much any verse about obedience or baptism, which is what we also noticed with the other accompanying Biggest Story resources. We simply added a few more verses that will help our kids understand the importance of obeying God as an expression of trusting in his grace.
Early Readers Series, published by Apologetics Press, features dozens of books in three tiers of reading levels that teach basic facts about creation from a theistic perspective. It’s very difficult to find resources on nature for kids that don’t also include a humanistic/atheistic perspective and the inevitable convoluted evolution narrative. Our kids have been using these simple, but helpful and interesting little books from an early age as they learn to read and learn about God’s amazing creation. Apologetics Press also has a number of other excellent resources on creation, dinosaurs, and various topics helping kids of all ages build a foundation of faith.
CSB Kid’s Bible, published by Holman, is the Bible of choice for our kids as they begin to read scripture for themselves. We opted for the larger edition over the thin line because we think early readers will benefit from the generous size 11 font. This edition features full-color pages and study helps connecting people, places, and events. We wanted to choose a reliable translation that is still accessible for young readers. While other translations lean more literal, we felt there was acceptable tradeoff with the CSB if they benefit from greater understanding. Some reading level charts show the CSB at a grade 7 level whereas the ESV is at least a 10. In our opinion, the CSB is about as accessible as the popular NIV and NLT while being substantially more accurate and reverent in their translation philosophy.
Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids, published by Holman, provides an engaging way for kids ages 5 to 10 to learn about more than 750 Bible terms paired with over 500 full-color photographs, illustrations, maps, or reconstructions. Our kids love flipping through the pages and pointing to pictures of things they want to learn about!
Each Little Dewdrop, published by Taylor Publications, is a long-time favorite going back to my own childhood. Let’s be honest, when we think about “kid songs” we tend to think about annoying tunes and bad rhymes. Not when Charli Couchman writes them! Adults and kids alike can enjoy singing along to these faith-building songs. Charli writes about people and stories sometimes omitted from kid’s Bible classes and VBS events such as Psalm 139, Enoch, Elijah, Job, Obadiah, and more. Using original and popular tunes, these songs help kids learn the Old Testament books of the Bible, learn to spell Bible books, and other topics like Jesus, the gospel, Satan, family, and more. There are 34 songs in all available by CD and accompanying songbook. Rumor is it may become available by streaming services soon.
Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me! This I know,
As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,
Saying, "Let them come to Me."
ANNA B. WARNER (1860)
way truth life love 