What is the best children’s Bible, or what are the best children’s Bible story books, or theology books — all of these are common questions.  Finding books that appeal to a child’s life context and use accessible vocabulary, while holding onto sound theology, can be a challenge.

Here are some of our favorites, broken down roughly by age group/reading level.  The images are links — in most cases, affiliate links for Amazon.

The Bible

When parents first set out looking for books like this, they’re usually looking for children’s Bibles or Bible story books.  There are definitely some of these that are better than others.  The Jesus Storybook Bible, for instance, does a good job of maintaining the overall unity of Scripture…but it has some theological issues I find concerning.

What often happens is that in an attempt to “simplify” the Scripture, authors actually unwittingly twist the Scripture.  Accurate knowledge of the Bible is one of the most important foundations we can lay for our children, so this is, for us, an unacceptable trade-off.  The children’s Bible we’ve heard the best overall reports of is The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos.  I’ve also heard good things about Marty Machowski’s The Gospel Story Bible.  [UPDATE Jan 2022: God With Us is a new option, and it’s very good!]

In our experience, though, the best children’s Bible is simply the Bible.  We own several children’s Bible story books, but they very rarely see use.  Instead, our children start out with a simple, no-frills edition of our family’s preferred translation in large print.  (We use NKJV at our house; I recommend getting your kids whatever translation you most often use in your home.)  The larger print makes it a bit easier for new readers to follow along with.

NKJV Giant Print Reference Bible, Brown LeatherTouch Indexed

We currently have three fluent readers and one gaining fluency, and jumping straight to actual Scripture has never been a problem for any of them.  In fact, they have each been eager to learn to read specifically so they would be able to read the Bible!

In addition, we make use of books that teach theology at a variety of levels, to supplement what they read in Scripture.

Theology Books for Tiny Tots (Pre-Readers)

• First Bible Basics: A Counting Primer and Psalms of Praise: A Movement Primer from the Baby Believer series.

These board books introduce little ones to simple Bible concepts while, of course, having the sturdiness of board books.  (There are other books in the series now, too, but I haven’t personally seen those.)

First Bible Basics covers the numbers 1-10, using biblical and Christian themes and concepts that make sense with the numbers in question, like four gospels and ten commandments.  Psalms of Praise is movement words like “clap” and “dancing,” accompanied by praise-related Scriptures.

• The Biggest Story ABC

The Biggest Story ABC is an alphabet board book based on the longer picture book, The Biggest Story.  (See below.)  The illustrations are colorful and beautiful, and this does a remarkable job of walking through the entire story of redemption, letter by letter.

• The Children’s Catechism

Okay, so the Children’s Catechism is not exactly a book (although you can probably get it in print).  This catechism was originally written as an introduction to the the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  It’s Presbyterian by design, but one of the reasons I like it is that it’s so basic that almost all of the questions are consistent with most orthodox protestant beliefs.  If you’re Baptist, for instance, you’ll want to substitute one or two questions, but you won’t need to overhaul the whole thing.

We like to use it with Dana Dierkson’s Ask Me WhoOo albums, which set this catechism to music with only a few very minor changes.

• From the Lips of Little Ones

From the Lips of Little Ones is not a book for the little ones themselves to read.  This book is for parents to use to teach their way through The Children’s Catechism.

Younger children can also get started with many of the books listed below for the primary grades, especially if the family is reading them all together.

Theology Reading for Primary Grades

• The Ology

The Ology is, as the title might imply, a walk through theology in language intended for children.  It’s excellent.  It’s useful for preschool and up, and I would even recommend it as a starting point for adults who are new to the faith and need a foundation.

My one “beef” with it is that it uses the NIV for its Scripture references, and I think John 3:16 is theologically incorrect in that translation.

(“One and only son” and “only begotten son” are very different concepts.  Translating this as “one and only son” is a similar concept as taking my statement that I have “two biological sisters” and claiming I said that I have “only two sisters.”  I actually have seven; they just aren’t all genetically related.  “Begotten” clarifies something similar, which is why this verse does not conflict with those that say we are adopted as sons.)

Since I’m usually reading it to my kids, I just quote the verse from another translation rather than reading it from the book.  If they were reading it on their own, we’d need to talk about this.

• The Biggest Story

I mentioned The Biggest Story when I talked about the related board book.  The artwork in this is so colorful and beautiful!  The art in the board book is drawn from this, but it’s simplified.  This is complex and modern — and it’s modern in all the best ways.

The subtitle of the book — How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden — gives a good idea of what this story is like.  It tells the overall story of history and redemption, from Creation to the Fall, to the Cross, and all the way to the New Heavens and New Earth.  It isn’t a book of Bible stories but a book telling the Bible story. 

• The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross

I haven’t personally read The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross, but I’ve heard it highly recommended by trustworthy friends.  This is another picture book that tells the overall story of the Fall and Redemption.

Based on what I have seen, I don’t like this one quite as much as The Biggest Story.  The overall quality of storytelling  and of art in that one is superior, in my opinion, so given a choice between the two, I’d pick that one.  But if you’re not forced to choose, they’re both good.

• God’s Very Good Idea

God’s Very Good Idea presents the gospel, and it does it while also teaching about diversity in a healthy and balanced way.  The message of this story is that God made a lot of different kinds of people — different in the way we look, in our personalities, etc. — and we all need and benefit from the same gospel.  I like that it teaches kids to celebrate diversity without focusing too much on differences.

• Westminster Shorter Catechism, Keach’s Baptist Catechism, Heidelberg Catechism, New City Catechism, etc.

I don’t suggest you use these all!  They’re options.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism was one of the earliest catechisms used during the Protestant Reformation.  Its purpose was to teach biblical doctrine to young people (and new older believers).  The Heidelberg was another, similar catechism used during the same historical era.  Both of these favor infant baptism.

Keach’s is similar, but adapted to Baptist theology.  The New City Catechism is literally “new.” It’s a modern catechism, in the spirit of the older Presbyterian catechisms, with fewer questions to make it easier to adapt to modern schedules.  It has both shorter and longer answer options.

Any of these catechisms will be more in-depth presentations of doctrine than the briefer Children’s Catechism mentioned previously.  They’re designed for memorization, but if you don’t want to memorize, there is still value in simply reading and/or studying them together.

• Training Hearts, Teaching Minds or Comforting Hearts, Teaching Minds

By Starr Meade, these books are based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Heidelberg Catechism, respectively.  These books of family devotions work through their respective catechisms, question by question.  (The New City Catechism has its own devotional.)

• The Radical Book for Kids

This one is a bit different than most of the others.  It’s a little hard to summarize.  [Read my review here.]  In a somewhat similar vein to The Dangerous Book for Boys  or something like that, this is a series of brief “articles” and activities.  They help explain and bring to life some of the events and conceps and cultural context of the Scripture.  It isn’t exactly theological reading, but it’s theologically sound, and helps flesh out kids’ understanding of the Bible.  And in the process, it’s fun.

Theology Reading for Tweens (& Younger Teens)

Older children and young teens can move beyond picture books and recited doctrinal basics to more full-on and independent Bible study.  Any of the books on this or the next list are also excellent for older teens or adults, but I’ve placed them according to when I think you may be able to introduce them.

• Learn to Study the Bible

I stumbled across Learn to Study the Bible and, having never heard of the author, and given the promise of “40 methods,” I was skeptical.  But this is very good and immensely practical.

The first section of the book is the basics of Bible study.  The sections that follow are various methods of study — which are really more like methods of organizing your study. A few of them are a bit odd, but most of them are pretty straightforward and effective.

One of the things I really appreciate about this is that includes a lot of the necessary information for approaching Scripture accurately, in a way that manages to pack in a lot of information while somehow not being overwhelming.  I recommend getting each person his own copy, because you’ll likely want to return to it as a reference.

• Visual Theology

Visual Theology is written for adults, but because of the way it’s presented, I think teens and some preteens can probably benefit from it.  This is basically a very simple theological overview or “systematic theology.”  Bigger around than a standard paperback, but smaller than 8.5×11″, this is less than an inch thick and (as the title implies) full of visuals — colorful charts, etc.  So it’s theology-heavy, but less overwhelming than a lot of theological texts.

• A Visual Theology Guide to the Bible

A newer offering from the same authors, A Visual Theology Guide to the Bible complements the earlier book well.  Although it contains theology, this is not so much about theology as it is about the Bible itself.  The first part of the book talks about how the Bible is structured, how it was preserved, how the canon was determined, etc.

The second part of the book talks about why we should study the Bible, and the third part talks about how to study the Bible (which includes reading and memorization, as well as true study).  This last portion does contain some theology, as it provides some background into the themes and content of various parts of Scripture.

In my opinion, Learn to Study the Bible is more helpful for learning to do actual study, but it’s complemented well by this one, which provides more context about what the Bible is and why we can consider it reliable.

• The Fallacy Detective

Okay, so The Fallacy Detective is not really theological at all, but hear me out.  An important foundation to being able to understand the Bible accurately and to avoid being sucked in by false teaching is the ability to think clearly and critically.  The Fallacy Detective is a fun and simple introduction to informal logical fallacies, helping to lay this foundation.

Theology Reading for Teens

Moving into the teen years — especially the upper teens — we can start to expect some deeper exploration of theology and related subjects.  A lot of this may depend on the individual teen, because by now they’re also starting to diverge into their own interests, but here are a few suggestions if you want to delve deeper.

• Westminster Larger Catechism

The Westminster Larger Catechism has much longer, more in-depth answers than the Shorter Catechism.  A student wanting to study doctrine more in-depth might want to read these.  Even if you don’t — or he doesn’t — agree with them, they can still be helpful for understanding the historical positions of the church and for inspiring discussion and study.

• other historical church creeds

Other historical church creeds can also contribute to an overall understanding of what was important to the historical church.  Some of these creeds are simpler, and will have been accessible to younger children, but exploring them as a group is something younger children probably won’t have much interest in or get much out of.

• systematic theology

Older teens can, if they’re interested, probably read a systematic theology.  The one by Joel Beeke (pictured above) is very readable.  It does an excellent job of using plain language and defining theological terms before introducing them, rather than relying on theological jargon.  It will ultimately be four volumes, but as of now, only the first one is available, and the second is ready for pre-orders.

This particular systematic theology series seems to do a fairly good job of explaining what alternate views exist but, as will be the case with any systematic theology, it does have a particular bias.

• On Guard

On Guard is about apologetics — that is, how to defend the Christian faith.  I like this one because it’s pretty readable/acccessible, while still containing solid arguments.

If you’re Reformed or Calvinistic, be aware that there’s one chapter in here that’s decidedly not.  I still think it has a lot of value to offer.

• Naming the Elephant

Naming the Elephant is, in my opinion, a bit tougher a read than some of the others.  Not too crazy, but not quite as readable as, say, On Guard.  That’s why it’s here at the end of the list and not, say, with the preteen books, where you might expect we’d be talking about worldview.  But it’s great introduction to what worldview is and why it matters.