The Adventure Bible Storybook (Deluxe Edition) includes the complete hardbound Adventure Bible Storybook, as well as 2 full audio CDs within a nice hard, open case. The stories found in the book are written by Catherine DeVries, and
illustrated by Jim Madsen. Directed toward an audience of 4-7 year olds, it's
purpose is to introduce them in a creative, adventurous way to many of the most
well known stories found in the Bible (as well as the Adventure Bible Family
series). The audio CDs read word-for-word with each story, while also capturing
the attention and stimulating the imagination of the children through music,
sound effects and multiple male and female character voices. The first disc
contains 23 stories from the Old Testament. The second disc contains 28 stories
from the New Testament. When quoted, Scripture is taken from the NIrV.
I sat next to my four
year old son as I wrote this review. He exclaimed multiple times, "I like
this new Bible storybook and it's music!", but even more often, he stated,
"Please stay next to me on the couch, Mommy, because I need lots of help."
With those two statements, my son summarized this book for me.
It is a beautifully
illustrated book with vivid , detailed drawings. Although it is a wonderful
book, as my son stated (and it's title confirms), it is just that... a
storybook. For this reason, although I know it will be well-loved by my
children, I will not replace it with the Bibles we currently use to teach our
children (The Beginners Bible, 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible, and the KJV Bible). Each story is
elaborated, some more than others (eg- the story, "Food from Heaven",
is told from the perspective of a little boy); in addition some stories start
in the middle or end of the story from the character's perspective, before
recalling back to what had taken place beforehand (eg- Samson is pushing the
pillars, and Daniel is already in the lions den). There are still Biblical
truths within the stories and I could foresee myself using the references listed
at the beginning of the story to read to my children the actual account before
they listened to the narrative. At the end of each story is an "Adventure
Discovery", which give a little factoid to either reiterate a theme or
expound upon the story. There is also a "Words to Treasure" section
that usually, but not always has a theme verse from that particular story. With
the exception of a few stories (Psalms 23, Proverbs and Christ's return), those
are the only quoted Scripture.
Now for my biggest
gripe... as my son stated, to use the audio, a child who is not reading pretty
decently will need help knowing when to turn the pages. My son loves listening
to various adventures on CD (eg- Patch the Pirate), as well as read-along books
rented from the library. For the read-along books, there is always a chime, or
the sound of a page turning... something to cue the child to turn the page. The
CDs in this edition unfortunately have no such cue. So as my son listened to
all of the CDs (in two sittings!), I was nearby, constantly glancing down so
that he knew when to turn the page. The only exception was when they read the
Bible verse at the end of each story. He listened for them to say the word
"Treasure" and would then quickly turn the page. Because of this
inconvenience, I'm not sure how often he will want to sit and listen to these
stories if I am not present. My only other issues (the use of NIrV and simple
messages) are arguably minor, based on personal preference and understandable
for the audience it is directed towards. In conclusion, I would recommend this
deluxe edition, but if Zonderkidz were to make any changes before another
printing, I'd highly advocate putting a cue to turn the pages!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book
free from the publisher through the BookSneeze® book review program. I
was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are
my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s
16 CFR, Part 255
