Best Children’s Bibles by Age

There are so many options for children’s Bibles out there! It can be overwhelming as you look at the shelves at the Christian book store or meander your way through the long list on Amazon. How do you know which are going to be the best and are going to ACTUALLY tell the story of God’s Word to your children?

First things first, nothing is going to replace the actual Bible, nor should it. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

God’s Word is incomparable to all other materials. They are the very words of God that show us what He is like, His story of redemption, and that teach us to walk in His ways. The Bible is our primary source of truth and should be where we first turn for guidance. All other resources are made by people, which means there will be error in them (no matter how much you trust their judgment and respect them!).

So, don’t replace these items with the actual Bible for your children. Don’t use them for scripture memory or as the authoritative Word of God, but use them as what they are: a resource to help point your family to Jesus in a way that is simple, colorful, and fun for children.

That being said, there are some amazing, gospel centered resources out there to use alongside of the Bible that can help you in sharing Jesus with little ones and can help guide you along the way in discipling your children. There are some great children’s storybook Bibles to choose from, but we must be discerning to find them.

Why should we be discerning in choosing a children’s Bible?

It is important to choose wisely for so many reasons!

• We want to share the big story of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration with our children from day one! It is never too early to teach theology to our children, so we want to choose a children’s Bible that teaches good theology.
• We want our children to get a big picture of who God is, His character and His holiness. The children’s Bible we choose should reflect God’s character in the way the stories are told.
• We want our children to see their sin in light of God’s holiness and see their need for a Savior. If the Bible you are reading from with them doesn’t even talk about sin or dumbs down the consequences of sin, our children will never see their need for Christ.
• There are many children’s Bibles that focus only on morality and don’t give a good picture of the actual story of the Bible and God’s redemption. Looking at how the stories are told and what the conclusion or application at the end of the story is can be helpful to discern whether it is a gospel centered resource to use in your family.

Today I wanted to share our family’s favorite children’s Bibles that we have found are gospel centered, focus on the big picture of God’s story of redemption, and paint a picture of God’s holiness in the midst of our sin. I do not recommend these as your source of truth, but as a supplementary resource to use alongside of the Bible to help point your children to Jesus. Many of these resources have been such an encouragement to our family as we’ve used them in our family Bible time or as we cuddle up on the couch to read together, so I pray they will be to yours as well!

Best Children’s Bibles by Age

For the Littlest of Ones (Babies and Toddlers):

The Big Picture Story Bible

We loved this storybook Bible when our kids were toddlers and under. It does a great job at sharing the big picture story of the Bible as a whole with Jesus at the center, instead of it seeming like a million different stories in one book. The stories are short, simple, and have big pictures!

For Preschoolers and Up:

The Jesus Storybook Bible

This one is my absolute favorite for so many reasons! We probably started reading this one before preschool age, but the stories are a little bit longer. It does an incredible job at bringing Jesus into the center of the whole story. The tagline is: “Every story whispers his name.” And that it does. I think I like this one so much because of how it helps ME see how every story revolves around how great God is and how great our need for a Savior is. Every story points to Jesus and to God as the God who loves with a “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.”

For the Early Readers:

The NIrV Bible

We have found the NIrV (New International Readers Version) Bible to be a great starting point for our kids as they are learning to read. This has been the first full Bible our kids have read for themselves. It is based on the NIV translation, but written at a reading level for kids around the ages of 6-10. Along with the full text, there are still colorful images throughout and extra sections such as: Life in Bible Times, Did You Know?, Book Introductions, and Colorful Maps to help locate places.

So, there you have it! Our top 3 favorite children’s Bibles by age! I do believe that you can (and should!) use the full text of the Bible with your children at all ages, but we can trust that God gives us wisdom and discernment to also choose other resources to help us grow in our relationship with Him. I pray these resources will be a sweet taste of the beauty of Christ that will only propel your family towards the excellencies of the fullness of God’s Word in the Bible.