THE NEW CHILDREN'S BIBLE
By Anne de Vries
Christian Focus. 288 pages. £3.99
ISBN 1 85792 838 5
In this year when the Bible Society celebrates its 200th anniversary, I am certain that Mary Jones would have been thrilled with the wealth of Bible-based literature available for children.
This collection of Bible stories is suitable, I suggest, for eight year olds plus and designed, as pages 286-287 explain, to introduce children to God's Word in a way that makes them want to read the complete Bible for themselves. It majors on several Bible characters and tells their stories in an interesting and sensitive way, yet not always in as much detail as some other story Bibles. Bible references are not given nor are we told upon which version of the Bible the stories are based. Noticeable omissions include the story of the Tower of Babel; a listing of the Ten Commandments; the story of Esther, and Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. On page 31, Ishmael is introduced simply as 'a boy' and not as the son of Abraham. The story of Jesus's last days on earth is beautifully told and the last two stories in the book are strategically placed to challenge and inspire!
