Christian Art Publishers has two more books in their Pocket Bible Devotionals line, The Pocket Bible Devotional for Guys and The Pocket Bible Devotional for Girls.
Guys ISBN:9781432124151
Girls ISBN:9781432119263
Christian Art Gifts provided this book free for review. We were not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are our own.
You may have already seen our reviews of the Pocket Bible Devotional for Women and the Pocket Bible Devotional for Men. The Guys and Girls devotionals are the same idea designed for a younger audience. The target audience is tweens on up through college age though they could be used and enjoyed by other ages as well.
There are quite a few similarities between the two devotionals and a few noticeable differences.
Both devotionals measure about 7.1″ x 4.75″ x .75″ and they weigh a little less than 12 ounces each. Both books have a cloth over board cover with a sewn binding and a ribbon bookmark.
The Guys version is blue and green camouflage and solid blue with a navy ribbon and camouflage page edges and endpapers.
The Girls version has a pink ribbon and a brown spine with most of the rest of the cover pink. The cover features a drawing of bluebirds, hearts, and clouds. The page edges are multicolor birds, hearts, and flowers with the endpapers a two-tone blue version of the same designs.
As far as content goes the devotionals are exactly the same but the appearance is very different.
There are 366 devotions in both of these Pocket Bible Devotionals one for each day of the year including February 29th. Whereas the Men’s and Women’s Devotionals had different themes these two have the exact same themes and devotionals on the same date. These themes are chosen for those who are still growing, learning, and maturing and are equally relevant to both genders. The themes run from Abilities to Zeal and include topics such as boundaries, consequences, hurried lives, mistakes, peer pressure, receiving advice and self-image. An index of all the themes can be found in the back.
Each devotion is on its own page and has 5 to 9 scripture passages taken from a combination of the NIV, NLT, ESV, and NKJV translations. The scriptures take about 2/3 of the page and the remaining portion of the page has a short devotional. The scriptures are presented in two columns and the devotion is in a single wider column and a different font. The devotional is a succinct reflection to help put the scriptures in context and encourage spiritual growth.
While these are not deep studies of the topics they are a good length for those just starting to develop a daily devotional habit. This shorter length is also good for those with overfilled schedules. Reading each day’s entry and scheduling a short prayer and reflection time would fit into any schedule and a longer amount of time with additional study and prayer could be included on less hectic days. The main part of these devotions is a good collection of relevant scriptures. This sets a good pattern for further (and future) study by making the Scriptures the key point of study.
The font used for the scriptures and devotional is identical between the two but the devotional for Guys is slightly easier to read because the ink is darker. It has all navy text and a light gray background for the devotional portion where the devotional for Girls is printed in turquoise with a light aqua behind the devotions.
The headers are very different and match the styling of the covers.
These books are divided up into 12 monthly sections with each having a title page at the beginning and an illustrated scripture on the back side of that page. Different scriptures are included in the two books, illustrated in two different styles that coordinate very well with the covers of the books.
While some might find these two different stylings slightly stereotypical they do resonate well with much of their target audience. My children are in their early twenties but they have certainly matched them well. Blue has always been one of my son’s favorite colors and camouflage one of the few patterns he would choose for himself, and it’s amazing how closely the colors of the Girls version matches my daughter’s room.
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This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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The Pocket Bible Devotional Series is a beautiful and easy to use set of devotionals. Both the Pocket Bible Devotional for Guys and the Pocket Bible Devotional for Girls are easily portable books with quick devotionals that would make excellent gifts.
Photography by hannah C brown
Thanks for sharing this. My church will be giving these out to our graduating students in May.