Mrs T's Musings

It’s not always easy finding the right books to use during Bible lessons with our kids. Both as a teacher and as a parent, I have spent many hours searching for high quality Christian books to use with the children I’m working with. So, here are some of my top recommendations of books to use for kids’ Bible lessons to help you out. 

Christian Picture Books

My first 4 recommendations are all picture books from the Tales that Tell the Truth series. There are some real gems in this series, although there is some variation in the quality as each book has its own author. Here are 4 books that we own and love reading with our kids.

The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross by Carl Laferton

I recommend this book to teachers and parents all the time. It’s especially helpful at Easter and Christmas time but can easily tie into most Bible themes all throughout the year. It gives an excellent, kid-friendly overview of the purpose behind Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross. 

God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell

This beautiful book is, in my opinion, not given enough credit! It gives a clear, poignant, yet kid-friendly overview of God’s plan for His creation, and how that plan was altered by sin. It is another great one to use at Easter and Christmas, as it shows why Jesus had to die on the cross to redeem us.  

Jesus and the Lion’s Den by Alison Mitchell

Since adding this book to our collection, the phrase ‘Daniel and the Lion’s Den’ is no longer in our vocabulary. Instead, we focus on how the story points to Jesus, as we should with all Bible stories. This picture book has been a great reminder of how all of the Old Testament is pointing to Jesus and makes it really simple to highlight some of the parallels between the book of Daniel and Jesus’s life on earth. 

The One O’Clock Miracle by Alison Mitchell

This book takes a simple and sometimes overlooked story from the New Testament of the man from Capernaum asking Jesus to heal his son, and highlights the moving, magnificent power of God through Jesus in a clear and engaging way. It shows the trusting faith of the man, and the power Jesus has to work in ways that we wouldn’t expect. It also highlights the length people had to go to in order to access Jesus, and can be a great conversation starter for the blessing that it is that we can now approach God through prayer at any time. 

Kids’ Bibles and Devotionals

The next 7 recommendations are for kids Bibles and devotional books. I’m always on the lookout for quality recommendations in this area, so feel free to leave a comment sharing your favourites. The selection below are books that I believe to be helpful, God-centred resources that are great tools for starting biblical conversations with kids.

Devotions for Beginning Readers by Christy Lee Taylor and Crystal Bowman

Upon recommendation we started using this devotional with our 3-year-old this year. It has been an excellent introduction to the habit of daily devotions. The concepts are very simple and serve well as conversation prompts. I appreciate that each daily devotional includes a word of the day, some further information about how that word relates to God, a Bible verse and a prayer. 

Big Book of Bible Stories for Toddlers by Alyssa Jones

This is another one we use with our young kids at home, and my favourite feature of this book is that each page has a ‘Big Question’. 

Some of the questions include: 

What is sin? 

Why was Jesus born? 

and How are we saved from sin?

These questions keep reminding kids of the big picture ideas behind each of the Bible stories and point them back to the gospel. 

The Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids by Rick Warren

I used this book while teaching in a year 3 and 4 class, and it was a helpful tool for that age group. It includes 365 devotionals, so it’s perfect for using as a daily morning or evening devotions reference with your children. The layout is quite similar to the Devotions for Beginning Readers, referenced above, including a Bible verse for the day, a written devotional and a prayer, so it would be easy to transition from the first one to this one as your children get a little older. 

365 Bible Stories and Prayers by Cottage Door Press

This is another effective one for helping kids get into the habit of daily devotional time. It’s ideal for younger kids, as it gives clear and simplified versions of Bible stories on each page. It also includes a range of prayers and blessings that you can try incorporating into your day. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Jesus Storybook Bible is a great book to work through with younger kids who are working their way through the Bible for the first time. Something that this book does very well is that it links all of the Bible stories in the Old and New Testaments to a bigger picture gospel story. The continuous reminders throughout the text of how Jesus fits into God’s overall plan for humanity provide great starting points for discussions with kids.

Bible Infographics for Kids by Harvest House Publishers

Bible Infographics for Kids offers a unique and engaging visual representation of Bible concepts. On each page, kids will be able to explore infographics that teach them about topics like the tabernacle, Jesus’s family tree and God’s promises for the future. There are several volumes that have already been released, and each one offers valuable information to help with kids’ Bible knowledge. 

I Am: 40 Reasons to Trust God by Diane Stortz

This is a beautiful resource for conveying the different names of God. There are 40 names of God that are explained through Bible stories. There are also sections after the Bible stories that dive deeper into explaining the meaning of each name of God in a kid-friendly way. It even includes recommendations for where to go to find out more about the context of each Bible story, by offering scripture references for further reading. 

Bonus Recommendation: Bible App for Kids

I have one final recommendation for you, and this one is a Bible app. It’s called the Bible App for Kids and it is a great interactive storytelling tool. The app features Bible stories from throughout the Old and New Testaments. Each story has moving images to go along with the words, and the text can be read out to children through the available recordings. The stories also have a review question at the end. I find that this is a helpful app to have on hand that can encourage conversations about Bible events and God. 

I hope you and your kids enjoy exploring these engaging Bible resources! Feel free to leave a comment letting me know what your favourite kids’ Bible resources are. 

Are you an educator who feels like you could do with some encouragement? Then have a read through my post of Encouragement and Advice for New Teachers. Whether you’ve been teaching for less than a year or more than a decade, I hope you find some encouragement there. Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Have a question or a request? You can contact me at blueskydesignsbymrst@gmail.com.