Review: Precious Moments Storybook Bible

What's cute and lovable and full of the Truth of the Lord?  This Precious Moments Storybook Bible!  This is a large hardback book with a soft, padded cover, which seems to be a new fad.  It is a heavy thick book, with plenty of stories.

The pictures are just adorable, like you would expect from Precious Moments, but they are even nicer then many I have seen.  The pages are full of bright color with nice borders, instead of the small pastel picture in the center of a white page that you used to see in some  Precious Moments books.  I love how the pages with the writing are decorated, as well.

I was a little confused with the depictions of Moses and Jesus, however.  They are drawn realistically (instead of in the well-known Precious Moments style) while the rest of the characters, both adults and children, are as you would expect.  I don't think this detracts from the book at all, especially for children who will probably not even notice- it is just odd to me.

I am pretty picky about what I classify as a "Children's Bible".   I don't think I could put this book in that category, but it is VERY close.  I would call it a Bible story book with excellent upgrades.  :)  It has some very special parts, such as the birthdate and baptism date pages in the front, which make it seem much more like a Bible.  It also includes passages that you would not find in a Bible story book, including selections from Psalms and Proverbs.  The Bible stories are paraphrased from the International Children's Bible, and they include the chapter and verse references.   However, it is hard for me to label something as a "Bible" when it only has some of the scriptures included and they are paraphrased to make them easier to read.

Does that detract any from the value of this book?  Not at all!  In fact, I would say that this has to be one of the best Bible Storybooks I have ever seen.  It is more complete then almost any other book for this age level, and it is very nicely done.  Some of the included passages are "Jesus Teaches the People" from
Matthew 6; "Protection and Guidance" from Psalm 121; "The Light of the World" from John 3; and "The King of Peace is Coming" from Isaiah 11.  I would actually go so far as to recommend this book to every family with young children.  There is just so much more here then in most Bible story books.  There is even a section in the back with well-known hymns and prayers.