Koko & Cheeky's Children's Bible Showdown

First, a disclaimer. I do have every single children's bible in possession. If your favorite bible is not mentioned here, it's probably because I don't know about it. All recommendations are welcome in the comments section. So, without any further adieu, here I go:



The Big Picture Bible

What I liked: My children and I adored the watercolor pictures. I liked the simple language and the fact that it wasn't wordy: there's only few lines for every story. Better yet, the author connected all the biblical stories, including the Old Testament with the focus on the Forever King (Jesus) so content wise, it wasn't superficial. This was my oldest child's favorite bible when she was two.

What I disliked: The author definitely weaved his own theological interpretations, but since it didn't distract from the main message, I didn't mind that much and found some of his ideas compelling. But I have some friends who felt that though this was written in simple language, some of the concepts are more difficult for younger children to grasp.


The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name

What I Liked:

• Content wise, I think it portrays God's love in a simple and accessible way for children to really grasp. Like the author intended, the Bible is portrayed as the ultimate love story.
• Like the Big Picture Bible, all the stories are connected and written with the focal point of the forever king.
• The pictures are drawn in a unique style that I recognize, but I can't seem to identify. It kind of reminds me of scratch art. And the illustrator, Jargo, sometimes spreads the picture on two pages and makes you maneuver the book vertically to see his masterpieces which is pretty cool! This bible is currently my children's favorite.
  

What I disliked:

• It's a bit wordy and long but then the intended audience is 4 and up. The author loves to use parentheses which initially annoyed me.
• The size of the Bible and the font is sooo small. If only it was a bit bigger...
  

The Rhyme Bible Storybook For Toddlers

What I Liked:

• It's concise and simple ( I think you could finish the whole book in 30 minutes!), and though it does skip the whole sin aspects of Eden and the flood, it still gives a well-rounded picture of Jonah's rebellion, Joseph's brothers jealousy, and even a little mention of what lead to the crucifixion.
  
• The rhymes are catchy and amusing and not annoying, at least to me.
  
• The ink and marker drawings are great; I love the jubilant smiles.
• I think it highlights many of the favorite new testament stories that focus on God's love.
• I've found this in our local thrift store two times for fifty cents or less! I do live in the bible belt, but it's still worth a try to look for one.
  

What I Disliked:

• Nothing. I wonder if the original Rhyme Bible for older kids is just as good.
  

The Bible in Pictures

What I Liked:
The pictures are charming, the text is short enough to keep a toddler's attention, and she often uses questions to stimulate interest.

What I Disliked: I wasn't too fond of how she used to story of Joseph's new coat to demonstrate that God loves to give us gifts when it was Jacob's favoritism that caused a lot of heartache in his family. Plus, was it really necessary to point out to children that God no longer talks audibly? I felt that it distracted from the awe little children have of God. However, the author also penned a widely-popular series called the Read-Aloud Bible Stories for older kids that my friend's sons love and rightly so. The font and the pictures are massive and it would easily rend itself to be a good first reader for children. Each volume contains only five or so stories. Supposedly, the first one is the best.

The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories by Karyn Henley and illustrated by Dennas Davis

What I liked:

• Of all the bibles, I think this is the most comprehensive in that it contains more biblical stories than the other bibles.
• The googly eyes are hilarious. I know some people dislike the cartoonish aspect of this bible, but we find the facial expressions funny.

What I Disliked:

• It's out of print! You can only buy this used. Ditto for the awesome companion hymnal
  
• The title is easily confused with a similar book that is made by the same company that I hear is MUCH INFERIOR.
  

Books of Note:
We love Debby Anderson books! As a former kindergarten teacher, she takes some abstract/hard-to-understand concepts and makes it accessible and fun for little children. I think the three best ones are I Can Talk to God, I Love my Bible, and Jesus is Coming Back. If I had to choose only one, I would pick the first. As a bonus, my oldest noticed that in every page of Jesus is Coming Back, there's a ladybug hiding somewhere.

My First Hymnal: Seventy-Five Hymns and What They Mean by the Karyn Henley and Dennas Davis team.

This gem has been my life-line on numerous occasions, especially when I was drained of energy during my pregnancies. This hymnal has many popular beloved Sunday school songs, hymns, Christmas and Easter songs, and everything in-between. It has the treble cleft musical notations for those who can read music or play an instrument and the same googly eye charm of The Beginner's Bible. I haven't read the little song commentaries to my kids yet, but I am sure to do so when they're older. Sadly, this is also out-of-print but I've purchased many used copies for decent prices (3 dollars on average) and none of my recipients have been disappointed.

What are your favorite children's bibles and Christian books geared for young ones? And, by the way, are my kids the only ones really upset about David hitting Golaith with a stone?