I recently had the chance to look at 365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories. This book is inspired by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut’s classic Story of the Bible from 1905. It is edited by Daniel Partner and illustrated by Alessia Girasole.
ISBN: 9781630583804
Barbour Publishing provided this book free for review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible had 168 stories and was aimed at 6 and up. This book has broken the stories into smaller chunks to make accessible to younger children (recommended 3 and up) and so you can have one story to read each night for a year. It covers the main stories from Genesis to Revelation. (the Revelation stories are John’s Vision of Jesus Christ and In Eternity with God)
Each page has a story, the scripture reference the story is drawn from, and an illustration.
The stories are short. They could definitely be read in 10 minutes or less (many in just 5). Everything in the stories is Biblical accurate but the Bible stories have been condensed and simplified so they are missing many details. My children would have wanted more story, which would be easy to do by reading 2 to 4 stories at a time or being prepared to answer questions and fill in details. A couple of my nephews would be happier with the short story length.
The scripture the story is based on being included is nice. It makes it easy to go to the Bible to answer any questions your kids might have. Something I’d recommend doing before storytime if your children ask lots of questions.
I really like the illustrations and the fact that each story gets it’s own. They are brightly colored and kid-friendly without being too cartoonish or simplistic.
It has a good index to help you find a specific story. A lot of the stories are indexed under more than one thing so you don’t have to remember all the details or names to be able to find the one you want.
365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories is a nice storybook. It is a good introduction to the Bible and it’s many characters, including the most important our unchanging God. It would be most enjoyed by small children and ones with short attention spans but could easily be adapted for older and more inquisitive children.
Photography by hannah C brown