Page-A-Day Children's Bible (Pauline Books and Media)

The Page-A-Day Children's Bible is one of the latest releases from Pauline Books and Media. It is approximately 400 pages long, is flexibound, and was written by Rhona Davies with illustrations by Marcin Piwowarski. It is specifically aimed at children ages 8-10, but depending on the child's reading level, earlier than that can appreciate it. As suggested by the title, there are 365 readings in this Bible. (Sorry Leap Year!) The first 240 chapters are from the Old Testament and the remaining 125 chapters are from the New Testament. Each chapter is approximately one page long. The pages are not full text though. They have some small soft illustrations to help keep your child's attention without distracting them from the message.

The first thing that I thought of when I received this book was that it's like an adult version of a daily devotional. Even seasoned readers, struggle with reading the Bible if they don't have a specific plan of attack. By setting up a daily schedule, and not making it too difficult to follow, children can read their daily bit of Bible when they wake up, before they go to bed, or on the way to school. The stories provide the right amount of wisdom and detail without speaking down to the children, and since they can read it on their own, they feel a sense of independence. My son is a bit below the recommended reading level, but we have been reading to him from this Bible every night before he goes to bed. We aren't going through it in order, but trying to pick out ones that we feel will catch his attention. You can never start too early when teaching your children a love for the Bible.

What I like best about this Bible is that with each chapter heading, the Scripture reference is also noted. This is especially helpful, if you want to read the same Bible section your child is, so that y'all can discuss it or maybe they'll want to hear the full passage if a particular story jumps out at them. I must confess. I haven't read through all of this Bible yet, but browsing through the chapters I did not see any stories from the deuterocanonical books (Sorry people, but we shouldn't refer to them as the apocrypha.), i.e., Baruch, Wisdom, etc. Knowing this, you could get this Bible for children who are Protestant or Orthodox. However, if you just buy it for Catholics, then this is the perfect gift for First Communion. I highly recommend this Bible for children ages 8 to 10, and I think it belongs in every house, classroom, or Sunday School if you have children in that range.

This book was provided to me for free by Pauline Books and Media in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!