The NASB Adventure Bible is Zondervan’s popular adventure-themed children’s Bible with the full text of the 1995 NASB.
ISBN:9780310112709 Printed in China
Zonderkidz provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
- Construction and Materials
- Typography and Layout
- Features
- Topical Index & Dictionary/Concordance
- Maps
- Final Thoughts
Construction and Materials
The version I have is the hardcover edition. The cover has artwork that looks a lot like the Australian outback. It weighs 2 lbs and 6 ounces and measures 8.75″ x 5.5″ x 1.75″. A two-tone blue leathersoft cover with hopping kangaroos is also available.
It has a sewn binding (mostly) with nice soft white paper. The paper is easy to turn and feels thick enough that children wouldn’t damage it easily (maybe mid 30s gsm)
There are 5 four-page glossy inserts that aren’t sewn in. They seem to be glued in at the back and a little bit to the page after them. The content on them is nice but the gluing process does cause cockling on the following page and the colored pages and a couple pages to each side do not lay flat easily.
Typography and Layout
The text is a 9.5 pont font in the NASB Comfort Print. Six lines of text fit in the height of a penny. It is laid out in a two-column verse-by-verse format. Quotes are offset and Biblical quotes are in all caps.
This is a red-letter edition and is a very colorful Bible even without all the extra notes. The chapter numbers and section headings are in green ink.
There is a dotted path in the header of each page in a yellowish tan with an x on the right-hand page. The header also has the page number in bright blue on the outside corner with the book name and chapter numbers for all chapters that even a small piece is on that page just inside that in the same bright blue.
The Psalm titles are the same bright blue rather than green like the section headings in the rest of the Bible. All the ink colors seem to be pretty consistent.
The only footnotes are NASB translation notes and they appear at the bottom of the right-hand column on each page. They are in a smaller sans serif font.
Features
There are a lot of extra notes and features in this Bible. Here is where the adventure theme really shows.
Words to Treasure
Key verses have been reprinted next to treasure chests as Words to Treasure. These generally make good choices for verses to memorize.
Did You Know?
These light tan “boxes” with parrots point out details in the text. They help the reader to not miss key points or point out details that make the stories more complete.
Life in Bible Times
These tan scrolls have different pictures on them that go along with what is being talked about. These give more information about day-to-day life in Bible times.
People in Bible Times
These orange boxes with palm leaves give a brief description of many key people or groups of people in the Bible.
My lighting and angles make these look two different colors but these, like all the ink colors, stay very consistent from page to page.
Live It!
These light blue boxes with seahorses, frogs, and palm trees suggest various types of activities to go along with certain passages in the Bible.
Many of them are just fun little activities to help illustrate a point in the story. There are also several that help children start to learn to live like Christians. They encouraging prayer, trust in God and his word, and applying Biblical principles when dealing with situations in everyday life.
The introduction to this Bible mentions a list of activities in the back which is not present in my copy. I believe it was supposed to be an index to make all of these “Live It” articles easier to find and I hope it appears in future printings on this Bible.
Book Introductions
Who, what, when, where, and why? These five questions about the writing of each book are what these 1-page book introductions answer.
A list of the most popular stories in the book and where to find them is also included. One of five different adventurous pictures runs along the side of each introduction.
Full-Color Pages
These brightly colored inserts contain lists and additional information. I’m sure many readers will turn to them often.
The thicker, glossier paper, makes these easy to find. having them spaced throughout the bible will encourage kids to turn through more of the pages.
I like most of the information contained on these. I would have preferred them all together in one signature or less colorful and on regular Bible paper since either of these would have made them easier to sew into the binding and done away with the cockling and most of the pages not laying flat problems.
This list of Bible verses for specific feelings is my favorite of the insert pages.
All together I think these extra notes do a good job of drawing kids into their Bible without adding much to the text. Most of the extra material points you toward reading the Bible or offers information that will make the Bible more relatable and easier to understand. The Live It! and Did You Know note types are my personal favorites.
Topical Index & Dictionary/Concordance
This 10-page index helps you find the notes and extra materials that cover each of the topics included.
The dictionary/concordance is definitely more dictionary than concordance. The dictionary is complete enough that I think readers will find a definition of words they don’t understand most of the time. There is not a reference for many of the words and 1 to 4 references are the most common amounts. A very few words include more references but I don’t think any go past 10.
Maps
Eight pages of glossy full-color maps are included in the back. These maps are:
- World of the Patriarchs
- Exodus and Conquest of Canaan
- Land of the Twelve Tribes
- Kingdom of David and Solomon
- Jesus’ Ministry
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys (2 page)
- Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus
Final Thoughts on the NASB Adventure Bible
I think the NASB Adventure Bible does a good job of presenting reading your Bible and living for God as an adventure without being so gimmicky that it detracts much from the important part, the actual Biblical text. If you want a Children’s Bible in the NASB translation this Bible is a good choice.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Photography by Lucinda Brown
Zonderkidz provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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