Lauren Ducommun

Storybook Bibles are a wonderful resource to help introduce the overall story of the Bible to your kids! Not only that, but they can highlight biblical themes, and the illustrations can help create context and a way for younger kids to engage with the text.

I grew up with The Beginner’s Bible, but since the 1990s many more storybook Bible have entered the scene! Here is a review of the most popular children’s picture book Bibles in the order that they were published.

Need help choosing a storybook Bible for your family? For comparison, I’ve included a page from the story of Noah and the ark and Jesus’ Crucifixion so that families can see how each book handles those two stories. If you find this resource helpful, let me know in the comments below!

Storybook Bibles

In chronological order by the year they were first published, oldest to newest.

Bible Stories Every Child Should Know

Note: Bible Stories Every Child Should Know was originally published in 1979 under the title, Classic Bible Storybook. There are currently two editions available today. One, still titled Classic Bible Storybook, published by Tyndale House, and a UK edition published by 10Publishing called Bible Stories Every Child Should Know.

[More info Coming Soon]

The Beginner’s Bible

The Beginner’s Bible is easy to read for kids, but isn’t over simplified or “dumbed down”. Fun fact: this was the book I first read from as a kid, and I still have my copy from the early 1990s!

The cartoony illustrations may be off-putting to some families, and some of the Israelites are depicted as blonde. But overall, they did a great job simplifying the Bible stories so that they can be easily read by young readers and enjoyed by parents reading aloud.

In the latest version of The Beginner’s Bible, they updated the illustrations and switched to glossy paper instead of matte.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

Sally Lloyd-Jones’ The Jesus Storybook Bible brought a monumental change to children’s storybook Bibles. She created a wonderful resource for families, that took the Christian world by storm! It’s probably the most popular storybook Bible out there.

Jago’s illustrations were beautiful, and Sally helped families connect these stories to Jesus. My only qualm is that her writing can be overly casual, and she sometimes takes some artistic license—writing implications or thoughts of people into her stories instead of stating what is only in the Bible text. Some may find her writing style too emotional or overly descriptive. Overall, her passion for Jesus and communicating these Bible stories is felt in each story.

While The Jesus Storybook Bible is focused on the theme of Jesus throughout the Bible, I would not say it is very comprehensive. As there are only around 21 stories from the Old Testament. This would be a great storybook Bible to introduce children to Jesus and help see how “every story whispers his name”.

The Gospel Story Bible

The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski is probably the most comprehensive storybook Bible out there. I was so impressed with how many Bible stories it covers! If you are looking for a storybook Bible to help children become more biblically literate, then this is a great choice!

While the illustrations are not that great and seem outdated, the real treasure is all the stories that Machowski has retold. Each Bible story fits on one page and contains three “Let’s Talk About It” questions for families to discuss. I appreciate how the author helps make connections to Jesus, with the desire to help readers discover Jesus in the Old and New Testaments.

Because the word-to-illustration ratio is much higher than most Bible storybooks, I would recommend this for ages 7+. This book is almost the opposite of The Jesus Storybook Bible in that the writing is more straightforward.

The Big Picture Story Bible

If you are looking for a first storybook Bible to read through with your youngest, then I highly recommend The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm. While this storybook Bible doesn’t cover as wide a range of stories, you and your kids will come away with a beautiful understanding of the Bible’s metanarrative to get the “big picture.”

This is the Bible I read first to my kids, as the words to picture ratio were perfect for when they were 1-2 years of age. They were able to follow along with ease. David Helm is a wonderful Bible teacher, and I love what he is doing with The Simeon Trust workshops! 

The Beginner’s Gospel Story Bible

The Beginner’s Gospel Story Book is very simple yet wonderfully engaging and makes an excellent storybook Bible to start with. Kennedy condenses the Bible story in a way that keeps the attention of toddlers and preschoolers.

Kennedy says that the goal of this storybook Bible is to trace “God’s perfect promises through the stories of the Old and New Testament.” The stories really heavily on fun and colorful illustrations, and each chapter ends with simple application questions like “Have you ever asked God to help you?” or “How do we get ready for Jesus to come back?”.

While this storybook Bible doesn’t cover as many New Testament stories as others do, it does a good job of providing a bird’s eye look at the New Testament. It also tells the lesser told story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana and Jesus healing a blind man.

The Biggest Story Bible Storybook

One of the longest storybook Bibles out there, The Biggest Story Bible Storybook is comprehensive and covers the main events of the Bible. I liked how they also included stories from Job and the minor prophets, as those are less popular stories to include in a storybook Bible.

While it is thorough and impressive, I felt that the writing was lacking in quality and often too informal, silly, and distracting from the main message of the text. This storybook Bible seems to lean more strongly on commentary than a paraphrase of the Bible story, and there is also not much dialogue from the characters.

You can read my full book review here.

The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook

The Kingdom of God Bible Storybook is unique as it is actually split into two separate volumes: The Old Testament and The New Testament. Written with ages 4 – 12 in mind, this is a wonderful choice for a family read-aloud if you have keeps of all ages. It is fully illustrated, which will keep the attention of the youngest listeners, and each chapter ends with questions to help engage older kids.

While the number of Bible stories isn’t mentioned, in my spreadsheet, I counted around 109 stories! Van Halteren highlights the theme of the kingdom of God, the covenants, and how the Old Testament points to Christ. Overall, this is one of my favorite storybook Bibles for kids! 

God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook

Written by Carl Laferton, God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook focuses on God’s big promises in a fun and fantastic way. The special symbols they use throughout the book help even the youngest kids to understand that not only has God has made different kinds of promises to his people, but he also keeps them.

While this is not a storybook Bible I would choose as a family read-aloud (it is sometimes oversimplified), this would be a Bible I’d give to a new reader so that they can read the stories on their own.

You can read my full book review here.

God’s Big Picture Bible Storybook

I’ve read a lot of children’s storybook Bibles that are poorly written–either dumbed down or too informal, but in God’s Big Picture Bible Storybook, N. T. Wright crafts each story in a clear, concise, yet interesting and engaging way. While he summarizes each Bible story into a one-page paraphrase, they don’t feel lacking in detail.

The design and page layout is simple and delightful. Each story shares a Scripture reference, as well as a cross-reference to other Bible stories to which it is related. There are also maps, that are simple yet informative. I appreciate that God’s Big Picture Bible Storybook appeals to older kids and adults — it is not overly colorful or cartoony.  This is a wonderful addition to your church library or to your home library if you have kids from ages 6 – 12.

You can read my full book review here.

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Storybook Bibles by Age Group

Storybook Bibles by Bible Story #

Storybook Bibles by Page #

By Denomination

If you made it to the end, I hope you found it helpful! Comment below with any questions you have and I’ll do my best to respond!