God Helps Me Bible by Juliet David and illustrated by Clare Caddy

Genre- Religion/Bible

Published by- Lion Children’s Books

Copyrighted- March 2012

Number of pages- 104

Age Group- Young Children (1-3)

Description of book- hardback (spiral binding), list price $12.99, ISBN 978-1-85985-916-2

This book has twenty-five Bible stories that are to be read to young children, with sentences at the end of each story to help the listener learn how God has helped the main character. 

A spiral binding allows the book to lay flat, which helps the child look at the illustrations more easily.

About the Author-

Juliet David lives in London with her family.  She has written Bible activity books and children’s stories.  She enjoys traveling to Israel and other Bible lands.

My thoughts-

This is a wonderful Bible for pre-school age children.  My children are six and eight, but they really enjoyed reading it, having it read to them, and looking at the illustrations.

What I liked:

• Opens flat because of the rings
• The heavier weight paper
• The letter to the reader, which included the question, “Can you think of ways God has helped you and your family?” and the idea for thanking God for helping the person in the story and the reader.
• Loved the illustrations- they were perfect for each story.

What I Disliked:

• Jonah’s story could have been more about going to Ninevah.
• Most of these are typical stories that are in most children’s Bibles.

I would recommend this book to families with young children, because the children will enjoy the illustrations and how they can become involved in the story.

What B (boy, age eight, second grade) Liked and Disliked:

The pictures are kind of funny.  Like in the part about Noah, with one monkey smiling and one frowning.  The frown is really funny.

In a different section, there is Joshua, he marched around Jericho and destroyed it.  He marched around it seven times. 

Zacchaeus is one of my favorite stories.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree too see Jesus, because he was too short to see through the crowd. 

In another part of the Bible, I learned how Paul got out of jail.  An earthquake shook the town and the prison fell down.  Luckily no one was hurt.   

If you want to know more, read the book.  I thought this book was good for kids my age and also babies.

What C (girl, age six, kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:

I liked when Moses saved his people.  God told him to raise his staff and then the water would come up and it would set back down when they were done crossing.  I liked the story, “A Mother Saves Her Baby.”  She hid baby in a special basket and floated it on the water.  And when the kings daughter came out to bathe she saw the basket. 

I didn’t like it when Haman was trying to kill Esther’s people. 

I liked the illustrations and stories.

I would recommend this book for everyone.

Dad Says-

This book has nice artwork and is very colorful. The simplicity of the stories will keep the younger child’s attention.The variety of stories moves it beyond a simple cardboard book into something that toddlers will want to have Mom and Dad continue reading to them.

The downsides of this book is that nothing is mentioned about the sacrifice and return of Jesus. While this is a tough issue to relay into words and ideas that young children will understand, His story still needs to be told. The book also misses the idea of repentance (Jonah & Zacchaeus). Three year olds understand the idea of being sorry for something they have done.

Overall this is a good book for 0-2 year olds and I would give it as a gift or a recommendation to my friends and family.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received God Helps Me Bible by Juliet David and illustrated by Claire Caddy for free from the Kregel Publications’ Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted. I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.