Christian Art Gifts recently sent me a copy of the My Own Keepsake Bible: A Kids Bible Storybook to Color. It was edited by the well known author of children’s books, Carolyn Larsen.
ISBN: 9781432115814
Christian Art Publishers provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
_________________________________________________________
This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
This is a storybook not a Bible. The text consists of 172 Bible stories. They are presented in biblical order, except the gospels portion which is arranged in chronological order. All stories include the biblical references it’s based on under the title and one of the key verses printed in italics at the end of the story. While many of the stories are simplified from the Biblical account none of the ones we’ve read include anything non-Biblical.
It was designed for 6 to 10 year-olds but could be enjoyed by those younger or older. Most of the stories are about 2 pages (a few are longer or shorter). I’m guessing an adult could read them aloud in about 10 minutes each.
Materials
The My Own Keepsake Bible is laid out in a double column format on thick white paper. Under the glossy full-color dust jacket is a thick cardboard cover done in black and white to be easily personalized with color.
It lays flat with little coaxing required and the pages are easy to turn even for little hands. It has a sewn binding for durability and an attached red ribbon marker which will make it seem more like a real Bible. The edges of the pages have the seven days of creation for you to color.
Artwork
Christian Art Kids claims 95 illustrations but there are definitely more than that. I think they are only counting full page illustrations and they might not be including the extras in the front and back in that number. These are all line art drawings that should be fairly easy to color.
A detachable second copy of the front cover is included for practice.
We had bleed through while using our washable Crayola markers and advise a little caution (and maybe a test page) if your child favors markers or paints. Crayons and colored pencils worked very well with no issues.
Illustrations beside the ones lined up with stories include:
- an angel illustration inside the front and back cover
- an illustrated presentation page
- a two page drawing for the beginning of both the Old and New Testament
- a bookshelf with all 66 books of the Bible (useful when memorizing them)
- the Armor of God
- the Fruits of the Spirit
There is also a place for the child to write out the ten commandments, his own prayer of praise, and six of his favorite verses.
Final Thoughts on the My Own Keepsake Bible
While it is a storybook rather than a Bible, the My Own Keepsake Bible is a very nice storybook. Designed for durability and ease of use it would really nice for younger children who want to Bible journal when Mom does. It makes a nice addition to anyone’s Biblical storybook library and my daughter will be keeping this copy to read to her younger cousins. Also if you are not sure about your child carrying a regular Bible back and forth to church yet this might be what you are looking for.
Photography by hannah C brown
Recent Comments