One of the most important things that any parent can do is to teach their child about Jesus. There are plenty of great resources out there, each with their own strengths and approaches, designed to help parents teach their children and get them into the Bible from an early age. But sometimes children’s books often only deal with the ‘easy parts’ of the Bible or the most well-known stories. Personally, I think that we do our children a disservice when we don’t teach them the whole range of Bible material. Here are two resources that I would highly recommend for parents to consider getting, but I would also recommend these for adults to read too because they will definitely be helped by them!
66 Books: One Story by Paul Reynolds
This is one of my favourite children’s books, but as I mentioned above, it is also a book that I would recommend to adults to read as well! In this book Paul Reynolds takes the reader, young and old, through every book of the bible to help them see that the whole Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) points to Jesus. Each book of the Bible has a chapter (except Genesis and the Psalms which have two) about the book. In each chapter you’ll find…
- A sentence summary of the whole book (this would help preachers!)
- An introduction to the book (Who wrote it? When? To whom? and all that important info)
- An overview of the events
- Some of the key teaching points and applications from that particular book of the Bible
- A section on how the book fits into God’s salvation plan and how it points to Jesus
- A memory verse from the book.
This is the best children’s book that I have read in a while and I will be returning to it myself, as someone who is way way beyond the stage of being a child. This book could be used as a parents to give their younger children an overview of the Bible and a walk through of some of the books that are rarely taught on (Chronicles, Minor prophets, Revelation, etc.), it would be used in family devotions for the whole family to enjoy or it could be used for a child who wants to learn for themselves. Paul Reynolds has put together a great resource that will bless young and old alike, it will inform the mind, it will challenge the heart and it will point you to Jesus. What more do you want from a book?!?!
God’s Daring Dozen (Box 2) by John Brown and Brian Wright
If you do a public reading in most churches from the Minor Prophets people will be waiting to hear what page the reading is from in the church Bible or they will first turn to the contents page to find out where Nahum (for example) even is. I don’t say that to be mean, it’s just the reality, the Minor Prophets is probably one of the least taught parts of the Bible, but the messages that those short books have are huge! In this series, of which this is the second instalment, Brown and Wright take the reader through four Minor Prophets; Joel, Jonah, Nahum and Malachi. These books are really well illustrated, well written and put together to help even the smallest of readers see the big impact that the Minor Prophets can have on people today. I’ve preached through two of these books and I wish I had these books then to have as a giveaway to families so that the whole family could get a feel for the book that the parents were hearing taught on a Sunday, but also so that the kids could join in on that journey of learning. If you’re wanting to help your children also learn the less-known parts of the Bible, this is defiantly a series for you to consider. I can’t wait until the whole series is done and then I want them to keep going through the whole Bible! Brown and Wright summarise it like this;
- Joel and the locusts – teaches repentance and promises renewal
- Jonah’s journey – teaches compassion and encourages obedience
- Nahum and the Ninevites – teaches the power and deliverance of God
- Malachi’s final message – teaches respect for and hope in God
*** I received a copy of these books from the publishers in exchange for honest reviews. This does not change the way I rate the books. My views are my own. ***
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