The Jesus Storybook Bible

The intended ages for the book is 4-7....but I have been completely engrossed in it the past few days. I love the way it is written and how it can make me excited to find out what happens next even though I already know the story. It's imaginative and creative and makes my heart race in the same way that reading about Aslan in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe does (And, not to mention--the artwork is beautiful!).  It tells the full story of redemption from the Fall in the garden of Eden to the second coming of Jesus when He makes everything right again.  The entire Bible is told as one big Story where each individual part--from Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac to the parting of the Red Sea--is told in a way that points to Jesus and talks of the "Great Rescue Plan" that is being carried out and how all of these accounts are just foreshadows of what is to come in Jesus. 

Here's a little taste of why I love it so much.  This is an excerpt from Jesus' calling of the 12 disciples, starting off right after he left the temptation in the wilderness:

Jesus left the desert and set about the Great Rescue.  He was going to get God's people back.

But first he needed to find some helpers and friends.  He had a lot to do.

He would need some people to help him.  

Who would make good helpers, do you think? 

Clever ones? Rich ones? Strong, important ones? 

Some people might think so, but I'm sure by now you don't need me to tell you they'd be wrong.  

Because the people God uses don't have to know a lot of things, or have a lot of things--

they just have to need him a lot.

One day, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee when he saw some brothers & friends

mending their nets.  They were poor fishermen.

Jesus called out to them, "Let's go!"

Peter, Andrew, James and John looked up at this man on the shore.

And they couldn't explain it: their boats needed to be put away, 

their nets needed mending, fish were still wriggling on the shore. 

But something about this stranger made them just drop their nets and their fish, 

leave their boats--and everything--and follow him.

This God-Man was like no one they had ever met.  When they looked at Jesus,

their hearts filled up with a wonderful, forever sort of happiness 

and inside it was as if they were running free in an open field.

Jesus asked 12 men to be his helpers: Peter, Andrew, James and John,

Matthew Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, another James, Simon, Thaddaeus, and Judas.

Meeting Jesus would change all of them forever.

I am using it as inspiration for developing curriculum for teaching the 1st graders Bible.  But, I highly recommend it to everyone--whether you have kids or not!  It will awaken those adventurous parts of your heart and bring the Story of God's Redemptive Plan to life!  You can click here to buy it on Amazon.