The Bibles recommended below include links to where you can buy them on Amazon, but here are a few other places you can go (or sites you can visit) where you can receive some more guidance, or even flip through Bibles as you choose which one will be best for your child:
Alpha and Omego Parable Christian Bookstore
1601 Penfield Rd. Rochester, NY OR 1540 Ridge Rd. West - Stone Ridge Plaza, Rochester, NY
(Order online or go in person)
Christian Book Distributor
(Order online)
Bender's Parable Christian Bookstore
8550 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY
(Order online or go in person)
Life Resources Christian Bookstore
3902 Maple Rd., Amherst, NY
(Go in person)
If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to buy a Bible for your son or daughter, please speak with Pastor Gloria or Elizabeth Goodberry.
**Many of these Bibles can be bought in a Kindle or tablet edition. This is a great way to get your child interacting with the Bible, but if your child doesn't have his/her own tablet, I personally recommend that you get your child a physical copy of a Bible. This will allow your child to get into the habit of bringing a Bible with them to church, which is a great thing to do through adulthood!
If your child doesn't have an age-appropriate Bible, here are some good ones that Elizabeth, our Bible Trek Director, recommends - - based on age:
For Toddlers:
The Beginner's Bible is a great Bible for kids to learn some of the stories in the Bible, and to get them interested in the Bible. It has great pictures and few words. It's the perfect Bible to start some routine with your kids, reading to them from the Bible each night. If kids want to look through the book themselves, the colorful pictures will draw them in! The more your child touches and looks at the Bible when s/he is young, the more s/he will learn to love the Bible when s/he is older!!
They also have board books with individual stories from the Beginner's Bible, in case your child likes ripping pages out of books!!
For Pre-K Kids:
This bible, called The Jesus Storybook Bible, is absolutely wonderful! It features stories from both the Old and New Testaments and helps kids (and adults!) to start to understand how Jesus has been at work in the world since the beginning of time. It portrays God's love for His creation throughout... an amazing Bible!! It also has pictures, and there are more words. Parents will have to read to children, but it should be something they can sit through by the time your children are 3 or 4 years old.
For Kindergarteners & 1st Graders:
Notice that I am not going by age, but by grade level for elementary-schoolers. This is because children are still learning to read, even through third and fourth grade, so we want to make sure they are getting into a Bible that they can read more independently. In Kindergarten and First grade, your child will likely still be dependent on an adult's help when reading the Bible, but the Bibles listed below will grab their attention and make them want to read it!
By Kindergarten we really want to move our kids away from the "storybook" Bibles and into a Bible that includes books of the Bible and verses.
The Action Bible is something that we use in Bible Trek almost every Sunday. I like it because it helps our pre-readers engage in the lesson and gets them looking at a Bible while we're reading directly from the Bible. The kids can actually see what is happening. This also might be a good resource for your child with Special Needs - - but take a look at it, first. It could also be over-stimulating for a child with special needs.
The Action Bible features most, but not all, Scripture (for example, this year we will be doing a series on Parables that Jesus told, and they are not all featured in this Bible). The really cool thing about it (especially for boys) is that each page looks like a page from a comic book! It's a great way to get your kids excited about God's story of the world!!
**If your child is going to bring his/her Action Bible to Bible Trek, please make sure that the front cover is clearly labeled with your child's name, since we have many copies of our own in the classroom. Thank you!
This Bible is going to be one that your child can stick with through fourth grade, so you may not feel that your Kindergartener is ready for it yet, but I encourage you to get a Bible like this one for your child once s/he reaches 1st grade so that your child may start to get used to how to use a Bible. Using a Bible is a difficult thing to learn at any age, so the earlier you start, the better! We use Adventure Bibles in Bible Trek, and this particular version is written for young readers (kids ages 6-10). Even if you choose not to go with this particular Bible, I highly recommend the "New International Reader's Version" (NIrV).
For 2nd & 3rd Graders:
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| See my full description above, in Kindergarten & 1st Grade |
By 2nd & 3rd Grade, I really hope that kids are using a Bible such as the Adventure Bible for Young Readers (see Kindergarten & 1st Graders) that has all of the books of the Bible and all of the verses. This is prime time for kids to learn how to look up verses in their own Bibles.
For 4th Graders:
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| I still recommend The Adventure Bible for Young Readers at this age. See my full description and reasoning under Kindergarten & 1st Graders. |
One of the great things about keeping the same Bible (for example, the Adventure Bible for Young Readers) for a long period of time is that your child can learn to start taking notes and underlining passages! If you want your child to keep his/her same Bible, but still want to get something new - - Bible pens are a great gift! They will get your child excited to take notes, and special pens that are made for Bibles will not bleed through the page. These are the ones I personally use, and I love them!!
Although I don't have much personal experience with the Kids' Quest Study Bible, I do feel confident recommending it for your 4th or 5th grader. I like that it is a Study Bible, which means that it will include helpful excerpts about how to apply God's Word to your life. This is the perfect Bible for your child if s/he is eating up everything in Bible Trek and always wants to know more! It will begin to bridge the gap between God's Word and your child's own life.
For 5th Graders:
You guessed it! After your kids have grown out of the Adventure Bible for Young Readers, I am recommending the Adventure Bible. It has all of the great features of the A.B.f.Y.R., but begins to help your child learn to read the language of the Bible.
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| The Kids' Quest Study Bible will be a great Bible for your 5th grader, as well - - especially at Northgate where we send 5th graders up to our Young Teens (Plugg'd In) program! See my full description above, in "For 4th Graders." |
For 6th - 8th Graders:
I really like the Teen Study Bible for kids at this age, for several reasons. One, it gets them used to the idea of "studying" the Bible. There are little excerpts that they can read to dig deeper into God's Word and start applying it to their own lives. I also love that it tackles real-life issues that kids at this age are starting to face.
This is actually one of the Bibles I had when I was growing up. You can apply everything that I said above about the Teen Study Bible to this one. It helps kids start to learn how to study the Bible and apply it to their own lives.
For 9th-12th Graders:
I believe that kids in senior high should have two very good Bibles: one that is portable (that they can toss in their backpack and bring to school or work) and one that is bigger and has more notes (which is why I recommend the Life Application Study Bible). As you choose a smaller Bible for your teenager, try to stick with a version that is theologically sound (you can always ask a pastor). If you don't want all of your Bibles to be NIV, I really like the ESV for personal study. I do not recommend the King James Version, or even the New King James Version. They are theologically sound, but they can be difficult to understand.
For Teenagers who are New to Christianity:
I love it when I hear that a teenager has given his/her life to Christ! It was during my teenage years that my own relationship with God really began, and when I started understanding what it meant to be a Christian. But teenagers who are new to Christianity can find themselves feeling "in over their heads" when it comes to reading the Bible. That's why I recommend The Message version of the Bible for these kids. It takes Scripture by the paragraph and breaks it down into contemporary language, so it's easier to understand. It might be more difficult to follow along on a Sunday morning at church, though (because of how it takes paragraphs rather than verse-by-verse to make it easier to understand). I recommend getting a cute or cool - looking edition, though. :)
If you have any questions, you're probably not the only one! Please post questions or comments on this blog, and we'll make sure to answer them!
