The Spark Story Bible, published by Augsburg Fortress is a hardcover 550 page Bible Story book for children ages 2 – 8. It is a great resource to consider for, not only the Sunday School classroom, but as a family treasure at home.
The book contains 150 of the best-loved bible stories from both the new and old testament. Old testament favorites include Noah and Moses of course, but Deborah and Micah as well, stories you don’t always see in a children’s bible. The New Testament includes the Gospels and Acts and touches on Paul’s letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians.
The children’s bible story book is wonderfully written. The descriptive language captures children immediately. “On the First day of creation, the wind of God blew. WHISH! WOOSH! SWOOSH! God said, ‘Let there be light!’ CRACKLE! BOOM! BANG! There was light. God saw that the light was good. then, SPLLLLLITTT! God divided the light and the darkness into day and night. On the second day, God said, =Let there be a sky!’ PILLOW! BILLOW! PUFF! there was a sky. God saw that the sky was good.” This first page engaged even the 5th grade (very cool) boys!
The illustrations are marvelous. The whimsical characters keep the kids laughing, while telling the story through the pictures. The black outline and the bright colors make each vibrant page jump out at you. I loved the comic book feel – again appealing to the hard-sell boys.
The Table of Contents not only lists the story name, but the coinciding scripture verses as well. What a great way to cross reference with younger children. In addition, each story ends with an activity or discussion question, that would be fun for all children even those older than the recommended 2-8 year olds.
The thick paper quality and the hardbound cover make this a durable book for the repeated use in a classroom, and make it an elegant gift as well.
As I glanced through this beautiful book, it just begs to be used as an outreach preschool story-hour book! It also would be a lovely gift for baby dedications. It has a beautiful page with a name plate inside the front cover. It of course would make a great Bible to give or to use in the classroom. There is bulk pricing available from the publisher to make that a reality in your classrooms! It would be awesome to see 4th and 5th graders “reading” it aloud to preschoolers each week – what a great way to begin a mentoring relationship between these young ages.
I liked the positive, fun, energetic, and loving feeling that came across me when I read through this book. If I felt that as an adult, I know the children we love would feel it too! It would be a great gift this holiday season, not just to little ones, but as a family gift so the whole family can share in this wonderful, thought-provoking, imaginative resource.
The publisher sells the book on their site, www.augsburgfortress.org for $19.99 each or as little as $11.99 in bulk. You can also find used Spark Stories Bibles on Amazon.com
