Favorite Bibles for Kids
We are praying that our kids would love the Word of God. It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start, so we are sharing some of our suggestions with you and our favorite Kid Bibles at the end!
Use Both Children's Bibles and The Real Bible
It's no secret that we are fans of the Jesus Storybook Bible. It's beautiful, inspiring, and easy to understand. (Almost every time I read it with my kids, I cry!)
We have a few of our favorite Bibles for kids that we are sharing below, however, you don't need to spend a ton of time and money researching and purchasing various Bibles and devotionals. Don't be afraid of the real Bible. God's Word is alive and active and our kids are just as capable of understanding it as we are.
Check out apps
I prefer reading from my physical Bible, but I also love having YouVersion (The Bible App) on my phone. I absolutely love the audio feature! Sometimes when my oldest can't sleep, he hops into bed with me and we pick a book from the Bible and fall asleep listening to it together. I love listening to the NLT or the Message translation.
The Kid Version of this app is so much fun! Kids are read to and can click on interactive pictures to engage with the story. They answer questions and earn coins. The illustrations are beautiful, the game helps kids remember what they've learned, and it's a great thing for kids to do while you are studying your Bible. It's super fun and free.
Have you checked out RightNow Media? When my kids wake up super early, I let them pick a show from RightNow Media Kids while I finish my Bible reading time. They are getting God’s word through the different cartoons and kid shows! My big kids love Bible Man, The Creators, McGee and Me (takes me right back!), and the Sugar Creek Gang. My littles love Ryan Defrates, Boz, and Friends and Heroes.
Pick Passages Wisely
This is especially true when you are reading from the real Bible. It's probably not wise to start with big confusing names, genealogy, or intimidating books like Revelation. Start with the basics. Share the Gospel—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and/or John straight from God's Word. Read about Jesus's miracles. Read Proverbs to help teach wisdom. Read through the Psalms. Psalm 23 is a great place to start!
Model it!
Kids pay attention to what we are doing. If we want our kids to love the Bible, we have to love the Bible too! Dig in as much as you can.
Digging into the Word daily is important, but if that is intimidating and too much, start small! Start with the goal of reading just one verse in the morning! Bring your Bible with you to church on Sundays. Establish a time to read a passage as a family at one meal a week. Start small and work your way up. Slow and steady wins the race here. Free yourself from the expectation of perfection and focus on how you can love Jesus and His Word a little more every day, no matter what that looks like. The more you read it, the more excited you are to keep going. Ask God to help increase your hunger for reading His word.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul commands us to pray always! We are really excited and really passionate about prayer over here (obviously!) 😉 We have seen firsthand how God transforms hearts and families through prayer. But prayer goes hand-in-hand with reading the Bible!
We talk with God through prayer and we listen to Him as we read His word.
The Bible is alive and active, which means each time we read it, the Holy Spirit can highlight different parts of it and speak something unique and personal to us.
The other day, I read Psalm 1 to my four kids. I read it three times as they scribbled, drew pictures, and built legos. Then we prayed and discussed and we all heard/noticed something different about God and how He is calling us to respond to His Word! It always blows me away that He knows our hearts and speaks personally to His kids.
I have found that the more I read the Bible, the hungrier I am to read more. I encourage you to carve out a few minutes today to pray and then listen to God and look for Him as you read.
My husband, Eric, quoted Saint Augustine in one of his sermons at our church, Purpose Church in Pomona, California. I have it on a post-it note now in the front of my Bible. It helps me open it up with joy, awe, and delight!
“For now, treat the Scriptures of God as the face of God; melt in its presence.”
This is silly, but one thing that's helped me want to read more is making my Bible pretty. I got some new highlighters, these Bible tabs, and post-it notes and I've been marking up every page I read. It makes me engage with the text more and I just love how it looks. Another thing that helps is taking a minute before I read to ask God to speak to me through His Word.
Our Favorite Bibles for Kids
We love it! They have a storybook version that is bigger and I love using this for my Sunday School Class. There is also a beautiful version for adults that I love to give out as gifts. It's the same beautiful wording just without the illustrations and it's called- The Story of God's Love for You.
2. The Action Bible:
All of our kids love this one, the boys and the girls. It is written like a comic book and it's so captivating and fun to look at. Adults get so much out of it too! It's really fun to read especially for kids that aren't super excited about traditional reading.
3. NirV Kids Devotional Bible:
This is a great Bible for early readers. It’s very similar to the NIV, but the sentences are shorter and simpler. My kids loved these from about first grade through third grade. This Bible has over 300 devotions and is meant for kids ages 6-10. I love the look of it too, the bright green one with the bicycle is my favorite.
My 9-year-old daughter still adores this one with hearts! She just added some Bible tabs to it that she got from Amazon for Christmas!
4. EPIC BIBLE:
This Bible will bring lots of excitement to your big kids! This was written for 7th - 9th graders, but I am really enjoying reading this with my 10.5-year-old!
Here is a quote about the Bible: “Suitably sophisticated, this new retelling of the biblical story as a graphic novel serves its subject matter and its intended audience―teens and young adults―well, epically!” ―Diane Stortz
This was created by some of DC and Marvel’s best comic book artists and each page is truly stunning.
5. The Adventure Bible
The Adventure Bible is a best seller for Elementary-aged kids. It has incredible devotions, charts, highlights, and illustrations to help kids love their Bible. My daughter just bought this pretty pink one because she needs an NIV Bible for church and Awana. She loves to read from her NirV at home, but it’s slightly different than what her friends are reading at church, so this one will be a great next step—written especially for 4th-6th graders. These are usually less than $20 and come in all kinds of different designs.