Monday, November 24, 2014

Book Review :: Adventure Bible for Toddlers by Catherine DeVries

The Adventure Bible for Toddlers is another addition to the popular Adventure Bible line from Zondervan/Zonderkidz. As with the rest of the Adventure Bible line, the Adventure Bible for Toddlers contains many references to "adventure". (It leans toward overkill of the word, in my opinion.)

The Adventure Bible for Toddlers contains 40 boardbook pages (counting front and back side as two pages), featuring 6 stories from the Old Testament and 4 stories from the New Testament. Each story is 4 pages (2 page openings) long.

Old Testament stories:
- "The Adventure Begins" (Creation)
- "Noah's Ark"
- "Moses' Many Adventures" (Moses)
- "Boy Versus Giant" (David & Goliath)
- "Drooling Lions" (Daniel & the lions)
- "Fish Food" (Jonah)

New Testament stories:
- "Jesus Is Born" 
- "Jesus Is Baptized"
- "Jesus and the Children"
- "The Adventure Continues..." (the Gospels)
The art in the Adventure Bible for Toddlers is not like the very cartoon-like drawings you will find in most toddler books, but are rather more on the realistic side. (The illustrations are done by Jim Madsen who also illustrated the NIV Adventure Bible, the NIrV Adventure Bible for Early Readers, and the Adventure Bible Storybook.) Although in general I appreciated the illustrations in the Adventure Bible for Toddlers, I did find one of the illustrations in the story about Jonah to be a bit graphic for my taste. (The illustration shows an angry looking fish spewing a green liquid, along with Jonah, from his mouth. This is accompanied by the story, which says, "Jonah got up and wiped himself off.")

The text is by Catherine DeVries who also wrote the Adventure Bible Storybook. The stories in the Adventure Bible for Toddlers are just that - stories. (They are not quotes from the Bible.)

The title (Adventure Bible for Toddlers) references this being a book for toddlers, but the back cover says "Ages 4-8". In my experience, kids generally tend to get over board books around age 4, so I would go with the "Toddler" on this, not the age recommendation. The boardbook pages are sturdy and the cover is hardback with a slight padding. 

All in all, I think the Adventure Bible for Toddlers is a good book to have to share with your toddlers. With the limitations of a boardbook (not very many pages), you will also want to have other toddler Bible storybooks on hand to share with your little ones to give a more comprehensive overview of the Bible's stories. 
FTC Declaration: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy. This does not change the fact that I will give my honest opinion in my reviews.

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