I was provided by Zondervan with a copy of this book to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

If you’ve been reading here for any length of time, you probably know by now that accuracy is very important to me, especially when it comes to the Scriptures.  I believe that we can simplify for children without making things incorrect.  Unfortunately, most children’s Bibles & Bible storybooks don’t hold to the same level of accuracy.

When 101 Bible Stories: From Creation to Revelation arrived and the picture on the front was Jonah and the Fish – an actual fish, not a whale – I knew that was a good sign.  A quick flip through to the New Testament area reveals that the nail imprints are in the more historically- and scientifically-accurate portion of Jesus’ hands, as well.  Kudos to illustrator Dan Andreason!

But what about the content?  Well, the term “stories” might be a little misleading.  These are really, really short.  Each story resides on a single page.  They are simplified for young children (and for brevity, obviously).  However, the editors seem to have worked to maintain a reasonable degree of accuracy.  The chapter references are given for each story, for ease of looking them up in an actual Bible.

There’s a good variety of stories represented here.  The length makes them good for bedtime reading or for new readers who need practice, because they won’t overwhelm.  And the very accuracy of the pictures makes it something I’m far more comfortable with my little ones sitting flipping through for hours, like with other books.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with this.