The Big Picture Story Bible (Redesign) Hardcover – Illustrated, July 31, 2014

I bought The Big Picture Story Bible for my 5-year-old granddaughter, and it has been a joy to read with her. As a grandpa, I love finding ways to teach her about God in a way that’s easy for her to understand, and this book does exactly that.Why It’s So Special:Beautifully Simple Storytelling: The stories are written in a way that captures her attention and keeps her engaged. It focuses on the big picture of God’s plan, making it perfect for young children who are just beginning to learn about the Bible.Colorful Illustrations: The illustrations are bright, bold, and full of life. My granddaughter loves pointing out the characters and asking questions about what’s happening in the pictures.Perfect for Grandparent-Grandchild Time: Reading this together has become one of our favorite activities. It’s a wonderful way to bond while sharing the truth of God’s love.Age-Appropriate Content: The stories are simple enough for her to understand but still rich in meaning. It’s a great introduction to God’s Word for little ones.Focus on God’s Plan: I appreciate how the book emphasizes how all the stories in the Bible connect to God’s plan of redemption. It helps lay a foundation for her faith.This has been such a meaningful gift for both of us. She’s always excited when I bring it out, and it gives me such joy to see her learning about God. If you’re a grandparent looking for a way to share the Bible with your grandkids, I highly recommend this book!

How does one start a review of a book like the Bible? How does one review a book written by one's pastor and friend? Well, I can tell you that I am unashamedly proud of this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to ALL.First and most important of all, this is a very fair and generous rendering of the Bible. This book contains all the key episodes of the biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation (and more), as others have said. Second, it is a book that is easily and enthusiastically embraced by children. Third, while many children's Bibles, like much Sunday School curriculum, take a biblical story and apply it as a moral lesson, the art, language and layout of this book remarkably captures the THEOLOGY of the Bible in a Christ-centered, Gospel-centered, and redemptively-centered way which is such a much better way of teaching children the message of Scripture.What's that mean? Well for classical Protestants and even Catholics, that's the way that the Church has read Scripture for thousands of years. In the Old Testament, the themes about God's people, God's covenant, God's King and Kingdom, (namely, God's plan of salvation for the world), emerge in a promisory, national, prophetic and shadowy way. In the New Testament the themes, promises, hopes and plans of God come to their climactic and glorious fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. This is how our Bible as a story fits together in a coherent and exciting whole.Remember when you first really grasped that? For me it was as an adult. I looked back at my art work from Sunday School and found crosses glued together, pictures of Noah and the Arky and that sort of thing. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if we had learned at a young age to undestand the Bible as a story about God's plan of salvation, involving God's people, under God's king and how Noah, Abraham, Moses, Israel, David, the Prophets and all the rest fit into that wonderful plan!? And even more, how Jesus is the glorious Savior who brings all of God's purposes for humanity and the world to their proper end!?What's so remarkable about this book is that the author (David Helm) and the illustrator (Gayle Schoonmaker) do an excellent job of using good language and good artistic perspective to grasp what the Bible is all about. There are repetitive kinds of pictures in the Bible, from a "God's eye view," when there are repetitive events in Scripture - like when the patriarchs enter and leave the land of Canaan, and when Israel enters and is expelled from the promised land, and when Jesus Christ enters and leaves Judah. As such, they are capturing artistically what is typologically happening as the narrative of Scripture unfolds. Another illustrative example would be the similarity in artistic rendering of the 12 children of Israel and the 12 apostles. Where we as adults have come to correctly understand links in the chain of God's redemptive purposes - these authors have created theologically accurate visual representations of these themes for children. It's remarkable! And what's more, the God's eye perspective really helps visually emphasize God's plan, design and reign over all these events.And here's a little bonus. This book is great for adults too.Five stars. There is no better resource for children available. Now if we can only see to it that it gets the widest possible distribution and acceptance.

We love this story Bible for our kids. It breaks down the stories well and also asks simple questions at the end of each story. The pictures are also very nice.

This is our favorite children's Bible of all time! We've probably bought 10 of them by now for friends and family.It does a fabulous job of showing how the entire Bible tells one big story by linking individual stories together. Themes like the image of God, God's promise to Abraham, and God's kingship are traced through story after story, with a special emphasis on the ideas of election, obedience, and promise. For example, in the story of Joshua, it says, "Israel promised to be God's people. Israel promised to obey God's Word. If they kept their promises, they would always live in God's promised place" (154). The stories of Jesus come alive as they are connected to God's Old Testament promises. The book reaches a resounding finish in the story of Revelation, where John was overcome with joy because "He had seen the very good ending waiting for everyone who follows Jesus as God's king. God's forever people will one day live in God's forever place under God's forever rule" (449-450).In a world where biblical literacy is on the decline and most people only know disconnected episodes from Scripture, this Bible makes a huge difference. It packages biblical theology in such a way that keeps the interest of a 2 or 3 year old (few words per page, with bright pictures), teaches older children the heart of the Bible, and offers profound reflections on biblical theology for adults -- all at once! This is one book in which parents will learn as much as their children. The ideal age is probably 4-8, but older and younger children love it, too. The entire book can be read in about an hour and a half, or it's 26 chapters can be read piece by piece.As important as this book is, it does not intend to be the only Bible your children read. Since it's purpose is to connect the stories of the Bible, it is selective about which stories to include and how much detail to offer. We read this to our kids alongside more detailed children's Bibles so that they are getting the individual stories as well as the big picture.I could not recommend this Bible more highly. As a doctoral student in Biblical Theology at Wheaton College, I am very picky about children's Bibles. This is hands down the best one I've ever seen.